


Price of Freedom

by Aspen_Writer



Series: Price of Freedom Universe [1]
Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, M/M, Romance, ghostblossom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-01-31 20:32:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12689730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspen_Writer/pseuds/Aspen_Writer
Summary: Cagney Carnation is a flower living in an unhealthy relationship and has many memories he would like to forget. Blind Specter is a ghost living in a train and unsure where to go in life. When the two meet for the first time at the Devil's Casino, the blind ghost falls head over heels for the carnation. However despite his misery and his growing attachment to Specter, Cagney refuses to leave the relationship with his abusive boyfriend but refuses to tell why.Specter is determined to free Cagney from the abuse, but sometimes the path to freedom can cause more chains to hold you down.





	1. Cagney

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This is my first ever Cuphead fanfic relating to my favorite ship in the fandom, Cagney/Blind Specter, or ghostblossom as the fans love to call it.  
> I posted this fanfic up on Tumblr and was astounded by the positive reaction it gained on Tumblr.  
> So I thought I'd post this up here on A03 to give it a shot.  
> Hope you enjoy it!

**CH 1: CAGNEY**

 

Cagney Carnation was not happy. Then again he was never happy most of these days for several reasons. Either the amount of rain was not to his liking, or the weather is dull, cold and cloudy, or it had something to do with the flower sitting next to him, Nathan Nightshade.  Right now it was the third and there was nothing else he could do but sit in the passenger seat of a 1932 Adler Primus while staring out the window watching the buildings go by as Nathan continued on prattling about the bar they had just left.

“Entertainment stank,” The purple flower went on, “but hey the gin was nice and cold just the way I like it.”  He glanced over at the yellow carnation and frowned. “What’s the matter with ya’?”

“You acted like a total asshole back there.” The yellow flower muttered.

Nathan said nothing but Cagney noticed his grip on the steering wheel tighten and when he did speak again his voice was dangerously soft.

“Yeah? Explain how…”

Cagney wrapped his vine-like arms around him and glanced out the car window, thinking about how he was going to say what he wanted to say while simultaneously trying to keep Nathan calm. “What I meant was…you nearly broke that guy’s arm…he was just—”

“He was trying to get you away to have a little fun with you.” Nathan interrupted. “Good thing I caught him in the act before he can do anything with you.”

“That’s ridiculous and you know it,” Cagney snorted. “I wasn’t gonna—”

“What? Calling me a liar?”

“No!” Cagney protested. “I was just sayin’—”

“I’m doin’ this for your own good babe.” Nathan cut him off again. “You ought to be grateful I’m looking after ya’.”

Cagney didn’t even dare to say anything else. He knew how aggressive Nathan could be during an argument so he focused his attention back on watching the buildings go past them as they drove on and wondered once again on how he got himself into this situation.

His mind wandered back to the day where he left his original home of Fleischer Fields. It hadn’t been that bad to be honest, but there were still some unpleasant memories that he had wanted to get away from. Once he had been old enough to leave, he figured starting fresh in a new place would be the perfect way to get away from the past. Unfortunately things didn’t go according to plan.

He found that the seaside city was too cold for his liking, there wasn’t enough sunshine and it rained constantly. Not that he hated rain. He enjoyed it back home in Fleischer Fields. However the rain in this city was colder than the rains back home, not to mention it fell hard and fast. After spending a few weeks in the city, Cagney was sure he would just be miserable…if it hadn’t been for Nathan.

He had met Nathan in one of the cities pansy parlors and they began talking. He seemed like a very nice and sweet guy and eventually the two began dating. However as time went on the relationship began to crumble. Nathan became more protective of him which turned to the point of possessive. He got angry over the smallest things and in some instances became physical with Cagney which included painful tugs on his petals and gripping his vine-like arms so hard that it ached for hours.

Still it was a lot better than being pummeled like a punching bag…wasn’t it? And there were days where Nathan was really good to him. He allowed him to live in his apartment after all and if wasn’t for his hospitality where would he be? Probably living homeless in the alleyways, wet and cold from the rain.   

A sensation of gentle rubbing on one of his petals caused him to jolt out of his memories. Nathan was gently rubbing Cagney’s top petal and he smiled at him.

“Hey listen, I’m sorry for what I did back there.”

Cagney thought about this for a moment before answering. ”Forgiven…but not forgotten.”

“Aw, you’re the best, babe.”

He leaned over to plant a kiss on Cagney’s cheek but the yellow flower immediately lunged forward and grabbed the steering wheel. “Road!” He screamed. “Nathan, the road!”

They swerved past an oncoming car which honked furiously and angry shouts were heard from inside. Nathan immediately stopped the car and grabbed Cagney’s wrist, tightening his grip.

“Ow!” Cagney winced. “Nathan—”

“What the hell was that for?! You trying to kill us or something?!”

“What?” Cagney stared at him in disbelief. “Me? You were the one not paying atten—aaugh!”

The grip on his wrist tightened and Nathan leaned his face dangerously close to Cagney’s. The yellow flower could smell gin and smoke on his boyfriend’s breath as he growled “You’re gonna blame me for that stunt? I ain’t the one who drove the car like a maniac!”

“Nathan, stop it!” Cagney hissed. “You’re hurting me!”

“Well you could have killed us!”

Cagney desperately tried to pull away from Nathan but his boyfriend’s grip was too strong. Suddenly the car door swung open and the next thing Cagney knew he was being shoved out and landed face down onto the road.

“Find your own way home!” Nathan snarled. “I ain’t taking any chances with your mood.”

Cagney slowly got up as Nathan slammed the door shut and drove off. Realizing what has happened Cagney scrambled up and desperately tried to follow after the car.

“Nathan! Wait! I don’t—”

Too late. The car turned the corner and disappeared. Cagney’s vines drooped in despair.

“I don’t know the way back…”

“Well ain’t that a sight.”

Cagney froze at the sound of raspy baritone voice and slowly turned around. Standing behind him was a tall humanoid being with a dice for a head. What caught Cagney’s attention was the outfit he was wearing: A bright purple suit with white gloves and purple shoes that shone despite the muck and rain on the streets.

“Never thought I’d see a Fleischer Field flower around this part of town,” The Dice continued. “What’s the matter, sprout? Lover’s tiff?”

Cagney immediately stiffened at the way the Dice spoke so casual about him and his personal problems. “Who are you? And how did you know about that?”

The Dice gave a wide smile and held out his hand towards Cagney. “The name’s King Dice. Manager of the Devil Casino and the Devil’s right hand man.”

Cagney glared down at the hand in distrust. “What do ya’ want with me?”

“Oh I just noticed you looked down in the dumps and thought I could throw you a bone.”

“Yeah?” Cagney was still suspicious. “How?”

With a flick of his wrist, a card appeared between the thumb and index finger of King Dice. He handed it to Cagney who took it and read what was written on it.

 

**TRY YOUR LUCK AT DEVIL’S CASINO!**

**_All-nighter of luck and hooch!_ **

**_You will have a hell of a time!_ **

****

Cagney read this a couple of more times before turning his attention back at King Dice. “A casino? Why would I need to go to a casino?”

“Not just any casino,” King held up a finger to correct him, “a place where you won’t need to worry about your problems. A place for folks like you who are down on their luck and full of desperation.”

“I ain’t desperate!” Cagney growled.

King Dice merely smirked. “Sure you ain’t. You know where the railroad tracks are?”

Cagney nodded.

“Good. Casino’s on the other side if you’re interested. I’ll be seeing ya’.”

And with that King Dice spun around once and disappeared into the ground. Cagney read the card in his leaves again. This was a really bad idea. He should be trying to find their apartment before the rains start to fall. But he was in an area of the city where he had never been in before. Maybe he can ask someone for directions, but who would he ask? A low rumble of thunder caused Cagney to stiffen. Well the railroad tracks were closer…maybe he can ask someone for directions at the casino. 

He made up his mind.

Turning around he began to walk. He walked past several buildings, walked past the junkyard and past the old theater. Crossing over the bridge that led from the city to the outskirts, Cagney spotted the railway just ahead of him and across from that was a large entrance in a mountain with lamps. Well there was no turning back now.

Gulping, Cagney took a step onto the railway. The ground began to shake and a high pitched whistle echoed in the air. There was a rumbling sound and the whistle became louder. Two bright lights shone out of nowhere and were heading straight towards the yellow carnation. Panicking, Cagney dove to the other side of the tracks just in time. A large train with a blue face and bared teeth drove past him and gave him a murderous look.

“Stay outta the rails, ya’ bum!”

Cagney scrambled away from the rails and sat up in time to watch the train of cars drive past him. They were filled with ghosts, skeletons and souls of the dead. Some were laughing uproariously while others were wailing in despair and the noise of it all chilled Cagney to the core. Finally the caboose of the train drove by and through the window Cagney saw something that nearly made him jump out of his roots. Two hands with yellow eyes were peeking out from the caboose window and were staring straight at him.

Cagney began to tremble violently. Stories of phantom railways coming to take your soul away plagued his mind. Was this happening to him right now? Fortunately just as soon as the train appeared it disappeared down the railway. The wails and laughter had died down and only the wind was heard blowing softly in the air. Cagney stood up and brushed off the dirt staining his stem, trying to calm himself. He was safe. Now all he had to do was go into the casino, get some directions, and then go home.

He just hoped Nathan would be in a better mood once he got back.


	2. Specter

**CH 2: Specter**

 

“All right! Last stop, Devil’s Casino! Everyone out!”

The crowd of passengers stood up from their seats and began to head towards the train exit located in each train car. Above them a ghost was floating around near the ceiling and watched the passengers as they left. The ghost was light blue but the most unusual feature of it was a huge eye socket in the middle of his head and in the middle of his palms were yellow eyes.

The ghost grinned to himself and raised his hands up. The eyes popped out from his palms and floated among the crowd of exiting passengers. Some ignored the eyes while others were startled by a floating eyeball and others screeched in terror. It amused the ghost greatly.

“Specter!”

The ghost yelped in alarm and immediately grabbed his eyes before turning towards a rather large skeleton with a conductor’s cap that was coming towards him. The ghost, Specter, gave a weak smile and waved.

“Hey T-bone! How’s it going?”

The skeleton glared down at the smaller ghost. “Were you scaring the passengers again?”

Specter spread his arms wide in a gesture of surprise. “What? Me? Scaring passengers? Nah! Why do you say that?”

T-bone merely glared down at the younger ghost before turning around and headed back to the front of the train with a sigh. “Good thing that was the last of them for tonight…if I have to put up with this one more time—”

“Wait, did you say ‘last’?”

T-bone looked over his shoulder towards Specter. “Yeah. Why do you—”

The expression on Specter’s face told T-bone exactly what the ghost was thinking. “Oh no, no! This is not the time—”

“C’mon T-bone!” Specter floated towards the skeleton conductor, popped his eyes out from his palms and clasped his hands together to beg. “I’ve been stuck in the train all day! I need to roam once in a while. Besides…” He grinned mischievously. “…don’t you want a few hours of peace and quiet here?”

T-bone was not moved. “Nice try, but you’re not going near that casino.”

“Ah, let the kid have some fun.”

Specter grinned as two twin phantom pistons slithered towards them. It was the Blaze Brothers. Finally some backup!

“What’s the big deal if the kid goes to the boss’s casino and has some fun?”

“Some fun,” The other head repeated.

“It isn’t professional,” T-bone answered. “If the boss sees him loafing around, he’ll think we’re not doing our job and will fire us…or worse…”

“But he ain’t working with us,” One of the heads pointed out. “Well not working with the boss. Doubt the boss will care if he has some fun in the casino. Might even gain some more dough.”

“C’mon T-bone. Pleeeaaase?”

T-bone glanced down at Specter who had his hands clasped together and was staring at him with a pleading expression. The skeleton conductor sighed. “Fine…you can go.”

“Yes!” Specter grinned and immediately flew towards the casino. “Thanks T-bone!”

“Just be back in a couple of hours!” He heard T-bone’s voice yell after him.

“Got it!”

“AND STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!”

T-bone watched as the ghost disappeared in the distance where the casino was located before rubbing his forehead and groaned.

“I really hope I don’t regret this…”

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney sat at a table all by himself, his chin resting on his leaf-hands. In front of him was a tall mug of beer brought to him by the bartenders on the house, despite the fact he told them that he was NOT drinking and merely wanted directions back home. Unfortunately nobody listened once again. He hadn’t been having much luck finding someone who knew the way back to his apartment. Some were either too busy gambling their money away or most of them honestly had no idea where the apartment was located at. Maybe he should just find a phone somewhere, call Nathan and just ask him to pick him up.

Cagney glanced over at the stage where a live jazz band was playing a slow melancholy tune. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall into the music, tapping his leaf fingers to the slow beat of the music. For a minute he had forgotten about his frustrations and the stench of cigarette smoke wafting through the air of the casino.

“So you like that?”

Cagney opened his eyes at the sound of a new voice. Floating in front of him was a blue ghost with an eyeless socket on its head and his palms had an eye each. Cagney stared at the ghost in confusion.

“Huh?”

“The band,” The ghost nodded towards the stage. “You like their music?”

“Oh.” Cagney stared down at his mug. “Yeah…I guess.”

Specter tilted his head to one side as he studied the newcomer. Grinning he pulled up a chair and sat next to the flower. “My name’s Specter.”

Cagney stared. “Specter? Huh…that’s a weird name.”

“Yeah,” Specter laughed, “it’s short for ‘Blind Specter’, but everyone just calls me Specter. What about you?”

“Cagney.”

“Like James Cagney?”

“Eh?”

Specter blinked. “You’ve never heard of James Cagney? The actor?”

“Oh…eh, I don’t get out much.”

Specter gave a little chuckle. “So this is your first time out, huh?”

“Well,” Cagney gave an awkward smile, “first time in a casino, to be honest.”

“How do you like it?”

“Haven’t done much.”

“Besides drink?”

Cagney rolled his eyes. “I didn’t even want to drink. They just gave me the drink and said it was on the house.”

“They tend to do that,” Specter nodded. “Free drinks to new customers and to the Devil’s favorite employees.”

Cagney raised a brow at this. “Are you one of his favorite employees?”

“Ha!” Specter laughed. “The only employee the Devil favors is King Dice. Other than that I don’t think he even knows I exist.” Specter then glanced around as if making sure nobody was listening before motioning Cagney to lean closer which he did. Specter leaned closer and whispered, “The truth is, I’m not a real employee…”

“You’re not?”

“Nah. I mean I help out at the Phantom Express whenever they need me to do something, but other than that I haven’t signed any of the devil’s contracts or anything like that that would keep me bound forever.” He leaned back against his chair and grinned. “So I guess that means I’m free to leave anywhere I want whenever I want.”

Cagney was confused. “Then why didn’t you?”

Specter shrugged. “Never found a place that felt right for me.”

“Oh.” Cagney glanced down at his drink. “Is the Phantom Express the train that nearly ran me over?”

“Yeah!” Specter nodded. “Heh, he’s all right for the most part. Just wants to do his job quickly. There are others in the train though. There’s T-bone, he’s like the boss out of us all. A stick in the mud sometimes, but he’s fine. Then there are the Blaze Brothers. They can be a bit annoying sometimes, but they’re all right.”

A thought came to Cagney. “Does the train pass by the city near the sea?”

“Yep!” Specter nodded again. “It goes all over Inkwell Isle. Why? Is there somewhere you need to go?”

“Yeah,” Cagney nodded. He then tapped his leaf fingers against the mug. “Umm, I was wondering if—”

“If we can drop you off at your home?”

Cagney stiffened but he slowly nodded. Thankfully Specter didn’t question him any further.

“Say no more!” Specter pushed himself away from the table. “C’mon! I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to take you home.”

Cagney shrank down in his seat. “Oh, I don’t wanna trouble you guys.”

“Don’t worry about it! It’s no trouble at all.” Specter smiled and held out his hand. “Trust me with it.”

Cagney glanced down at Specter’s hand with the eyeball staring at him. He lifted his head to look at Specter’s face and felt a shiver go through him as Specter continued on smiling at him. But it wasn’t a shiver of fear or cold…it was a different kind of shiver that he couldn’t explain. Finally he reached out and took Specter’s hand.


	3. The Phantom Express

**CH 3: The Phantom Express**

 

Being one who knew the ins and outs of the casino, Specter was able to lead Cagney through the casino and along the way pointed out different tidbits about the casino and the employees working there. It amazed Cagney to see how much Specter knew about the casino despite not being a full time worker. Finally they exited the casino and headed down to the railroad where the phantom express remained where it was. T-bone was smoking his usual after-work cigarette when he saw Specter coming down from the casino. He breathed a sigh of relief but that only lasted one second when he saw Cagney. He immediately stood straight up and glared at the eyeless ghost.

“Damnit Specter! I told you to stay out of trouble and you’ve already got yourself another date?!”

Cagney stiffened in alarm. “What?!”

“It’s not a date, T-bone.” Specter reassured the skeleton. “This guy needs a ride home and I thought—”

“Oh no!” T-bone buried his face into his hand. “No, we’re already off work! If he’s stuck here, that’s his problem. He can wait until the morning.”

“I can’t!” Cagney argued. “My…my roommate will be wondering where I am. I don’t…I don’t want to worry him.”

Specter nodded vigorously. “There. You see, T-bone? If we don’t get him home, his poor roommate will be worried and scared for his good friend’s safety. We don’t want to keep him worried, do we?”

“So what?” T-bone snorted. “We don’t know him.”

A huge piston with yellow eyes rose out from the train car. Cagney’s eyes widened at the sight of the huge piston and shrank down in alarm. Specter gave him a reassuring nudge as the piston glanced down at the flower and the ghost before grinning. “Aww is this your new little night fling, Specter? Looks like a real catch.”

“I am not!” Cagney snapped. His fear was replaced by anger. “I’m just trying to get home!”

The piston turned towards T-bone with a grin. “Is that so?”

“Apparently,” T-bone grumbled. “And the answer is still no.”

“But T-bone,” Specter argued, “we can’t just leave him here!”

“We can too.” T-bone argued back. “It’s late and we have work early tomorrow. Now get to your caboose, Specter.”

“Well can he at least stay with me?”

“I can’t do that!” Cagney protested. What would Nathan think if he stayed with a stranger? “I need to get back home now!”

“Oh for Pete’s sake!” A booming voice in the front snapped. “T-bone, get in! We’re taking this mug home!”

“What?” T-bone’s jaw dropped. “B-but—”

The front of the train suddenly turned and glared menacingly at T-bone. “If we don’t drop him off, Specter won’t shut up about him needing to get home. I’m willing to make one more pit stop if it makes Specter happy…and quiet.”

T-bone opened his jaw again to argue but then shut it again. With a sigh he pointed at Cagney and Specter. “Okay, fine. Just this once. But you two are sitting in the passenger’s car.”

“Thanks T-bone!” Specter grinned. “You won’t regret it!”

“That’s what I thought when I allowed you to go to the casino,” T-bone grumbled as Specter led Cagney into the train.

Cagney was stunned by the interior of the train. With the Phantom Express he expected it to be run down with cobwebs and seats falling apart. Instead the passenger train was quite well maintained and clean. A whistle sounded and the train lurched once before beginning to chug slowly and then started going faster.

“So what’s the address, bub?” T-bone asked.

Cagney gave the skeleton the address of Nathan’s apartment and the conductor nodded. “Ah yes, we know that area. Well make yourself comfortable.”

Still grumbling to himself, the skeleton walked off to the front of the train leaving the flower and the ghost by themselves.

Specter grinned and waved towards the seats. “Well you heard him! Make yourself at home.”

“Oh, thanks.”

 Going over to one of the nearby seats the flower settled himself near the window and glanced out. He felt awe by the landscape going past them in rapid speed, faster than he’d ever gone.

Specter noticed the flower’s look of amazement and smiled. “First time on a train?”

Cagney nodded.  “It’s great! Never gone this fast before!”

The two remained seated as they watched the forest fly past them. Cagney cleared his throat. “Hey uh…what exactly did T-bone mean?”

“Huh?” Specter blinked.

“By…date and that piston saying something about a night fling.”

“Oh,” Specter rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. “Well…I’ve brought back one or two guys before…none of them stayed for very long though.”

“Guys?” Cagney blinked. “You never told me that…that you uh…”

“That I liked guys?” Specter grinned. “Well you never asked.”

Cagney felt his cheeks heat up and he immediately turned his attention back to the window.

“So,” Specter continued on, “this roommate of yours…is he…?”

Cagney nodded slowly. “My boyfriend…”

Specter’s shoulders slumped at this. “Oh…well must be some lucky guy then.”

“Mmph,” Cagney shrugged then he realized something. Was Specter complimenting him?

The forest soon disappeared into tall buildings and roads. Cagney sat up in relief as he began to recognize some of the buildings. Eventually the train slowed to a stop and T-bone appeared to them again. “Well this is our stop. Recognize anything?”

“Yeah!” Cagney nodded as he stood up. “Thanks a lot! I can walk home from here.”

“Oh, well do you need an escort?” Specter asked. “I can walk you home if you want.”

“No!” Cagney yelped. He cleared his throat. “Um, thanks but no I’m fine. I can walk home by myself just fine.”

“Oh, OK.” Specter gave a small smile towards him. “Well, if you ever want to visit us again, you know where to find us!”

“Will do.”

“OK…see ya’.”

T-bone escorted Cagney out of the train and merely gave a nod to him. “Take care.”

“Thanks.” Cagney nodded back.

He stepped out from the train and the door closed. There was one last blow of the whistle and the Phantom Express began to chug away. Cagney watched as the train cars passed by him until there was only the caboose left. To his surprise, Specter appeared from a window and the ghost waved a goodbye towards the flower. Without thinking Cagney smiled and waved back until the train disappeared from view.

Cagney turned around and left the station, feeling a bit light headed than usual. His mind went back to the events of the casino and the memories that stood out the most were the ones with Specter in it. The ghost was odd, but he seemed friendly enough. Cagney smiled at the thought of Specter. He had never felt anything like this before, not since he first met Nathan.

Cagney immediately flinched at the realization. He had to get home immediately. With a sigh, the flower headed off towards the direction of the apartment where he lived with his boyfriend and prepared himself for what he will encounter in the apartment.


	4. A growing bond

**CH 4: A growing bond**

 

Walking through the door of their apartment, the first thing Cagney saw was Nathan sitting in his armchair and smoking a cigar. The deadly nightshade flower looked up and gave a huge smile when he saw who it was. He put out the cigar, stood up and spread his vine arms wide to hug the carnation.

“Ahh, here you are, babe! Welcome home!”

Cagney didn’t move as Nathan planted kisses on his face. Noticing his boyfriend’s silence, Nathan frowned. “What? You still mad about what happened?”

Cagney snorted. “What do you think?”

Nathan pulled him closer and started stroking Cagney’s petals. “Aw babe, I’m sorry about that. You know how I get when I drink. I know that’s a poor excuse, but I really am sorry.”

Cagney relaxed at the sensation of his petals being stroked gently. “Well…I guess I should apologize as well. I shouldn’t have grabbed the steering wheel like that…”

“Oh good,” Nathan smiled. “You know what would make us feel better?”  He grinned and brushed his leaf hand against Cagney’s chin. “How doing some fun activities in the bedroom tonight, huh?”

Cagney groaned. “Not tonight, Nathan. I’m not in the mood…”

Nathan’s grip on his chin suddenly tightened and his face was turned so that he was looking straight into Nathan’s face.

Nathan raised a brow in irritation. “Babe, I apologized to you. I said I was sorry and you’re still not going to forgive me for that?”

“It’s not that,” Cagney tried to explain, “it’s just—”

“How ungrateful can you get?” Nathan went on. “I try my best to be an amazing guy to you and yet you treat me like I’m a bad guy.”

“I’m sorry,” Cagney apologized as he tried to pull his chin out of Nathan’s grip. “I didn’t mean to treat you like you’re bad...”

“You do love me, don’t you?”

“I do!”

“Then prove it.”

Cagney knew there was no getting out of this. He didn’t want Nathan to become angry and get physical with him. So after a few minutes of hesitation he finally nodded.

Nathan smiled and kissed him. “Thanks babe. You’re the best!”

Cagney said nothing as he was led into the bedroom and was consumed by darkness as the door closed leaving him alone with Nathan.

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney awoke to the bright sunlight shining down through the window blinds which caused him to groan, bring the bed covers up to his head and roll over to escape the bright light. Last night was not a good one. He hadn’t slept well so he was exhausted while laying next to him he could hear Nathan snoring without a care in the world. Cagney threw the blankets off and headed for the bathroom. After last night he felt dirty and he ached all over. Turning on the shower he stepped in and allowed the warm water to run down his petals and stem.

His mind began to wander and he began to think about Specter for some reason. He wondered what Specter thought of him. He was very friendly with him. Did he like him? Specter did admit he was attracted to guys. Did he think Cagney was sexy?

“Ugh!” Cagney groaned as he shook his head. “What is wrong with you, Cagney? You already have a boyfriend!”

After a quick wash, Cagney turned off the shower and dried himself. He had just finished when Nathan walked in the bathroom and smiled at him.

“Good morning, love.”

Glaring at him, Cagney pushed past him and went back into the bedroom. Opening the window blinds, Cagney stood next to the window to take in the sunlight. It was a rare moment for the sun to shine in this city so he enjoyed it whenever he could.

Nathan came out of the bathroom and went over to Cagney, wrapping his vines around him and nuzzling his petals. “Hey, we’re running out of a few things. I’m going to be busy today so do you mind doing some things around the house?”

“Like what?”

“Food shopping for one thing…”

Cagney perked up at this. Nathan rarely allowed him to leave the apartment by himself for whatever reason. Being allowed to leave the apartment, even to the grocery store, without him was just as rare as the sunlight in the city.

“Sure! I can do that today.”

“Thanks babe! There’s a list of instructions on what you need to do on the table. Just gotta follow them.”

Nathan flashed a smile and kissed him on the lips. Cagney kissed back but he wasn’t too into it.

Breaking away from the kiss Nathan smiled down at Cagney. “Well, I need to go. I’ll see you later, babe.”

He gave Cagney’s petals a sharp tug before winking at him and leaving the apartment. Cagney winced as he rubbed the petals Nathan had tugged. He hated it when he did that, which was constant.

“Why do I put up with him?” Cagney grumbled as he stared out the window.  Through the window he spotted Nathan outside and seemed to be waiting for something. Eventually a black car pulled up in front of him and the nightshade flower climbed into the car before it drove away from sight.

Cagney sighed with relief. Even though he had some chores to do, at least he can let his guard down for a few hours.

 

* * *

 

 

At the grocery store, Cagney stared down at the list in his leaves before glancing at the can of cod liver oil in his other leaf. Why would Nathan want cod liver oil? He didn’t want to know yet into the grocery basket it went.

“Cagney?”

The carnation stiffened at the sound of a familiar voice. At the end of the aisle was Specter, floating in the air and staring at the carnation in amazement. Grinning the ghost flew towards him and he threw an arm around his shoulder.

“Hey! Never thought I’d see you again so soon!”

“I-It’s good to see you too!” Cagney smiled. “But…what are you doing here?”

“Oh, just doing some food shopping for the phantom express.”

“Food shopping?” Cagney was confused. “But…aren’t you all ghosts?”

Specter grinned. “Says a plant that doesn’t need anything else except the sun.”

“Hey,” Cagney tried to sound insulted but he smirked, “just because we can live off the sun doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the taste of food.”

“Voila!” Specter spread his arms wide with a grin. “There’s your answer!”

Cagney couldn’t help but laugh at Specter’s clever remark and his playful attitude. The carnation and the ghost began to wander around the store, chatting and getting some groceries.

“Did T-Bone give you a hard time last night because of me?”

“Nah,” Specter grinned. “He gave me the same lecture about not latching on to the first guy I see, but in my defense you seemed like you needed help.”

“I did,” Cagney nodded. “And thanks again for that.”

“It’s not a problem. Was your boyfriend happy to see you?”

Cagney frowned. “Oh yeah…really happy.”

Specter tilted his head at Cagney’s tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Cagney waved a leaf dismissively. “Just gotta find the laundry soap…”

Specter suddenly stretched his arm high up and grabbed a box from the top shelf, bringing it down to Cagney. “This laundry soap?”

“Yeah,” Cagney smiled as he took the box. “Thanks!”

They went down another aisle and gathered up the items they needed before Specter spoke again.

“Listen, Cagney…I like you, you know?”

“Specter,” Cagney sighed. “I told you, I already have a boyfriend.”

“I know.” Specter nodded. “What I meant was, just because you have a boyfriend doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Don’t get me wrong, the guys back on the Phantom Express are great, but T-bone gets too involved in work to hang out, the Blaze Brothers can get annoying and the Head of the Train…well he is never in the mood to talk.” Specter trailed off as he rubbed his hands together awkwardly. “So eh…since I don’t have anyone else to talk to…maybe we can just be friends and hang out with each other?”

Cagney considered this offer and frowned. It was tempting. With Nathan out of apartment most of time and with nobody else to talk to, a friend sounded really nice. But would Nathan even allow it?

“Umm…” Cagney gulped. “Can I think about it?”

“Sure!” Specter nodded. “Think about it all you want.”

“Okay good, because I’m going to have to look for this soap…” Cagney frowned at the list in confusion.

Specter raised his hand to take a peek at the list and snapped his fingers. “Camay Soap? I know exactly the place.”

Cagney spent the next hour going around the grocery store with Specter pointing out where some items were located and helping Cagney in picking out the best brands. When they were done, Specter reached up on the shelf and pulled out two Sky Bars, handing one to Cagney. “Here, you can have this one.”

“Oh,” Cagney bit his bottom lip. “No, I can’t. It’s not in my budget.”

“Oh, well then it can be my treat.” Specter offered. “It’s on me.”

“No way! Nathan would kill me if he sees this!”

Cagney immediately shut his mouth when he realized what he just said. Specter just stared at him in an awkward silence.

“Nathan?” Specter finally spoke. “Is he…your boyfriend?”

Cagney nodded.

“Why would he kill you over a chocolate bar?”

“Well, he wouldn’t really kill me…it’s just…” Cagney sighed. “Look, one time I bought something for myself and Nathan wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. So it’s just best not to do anything like that again.”

Specter frowned. “That doesn’t sound right…”

“No, it’s not his fault. It’s mine.” Cagney reassured. “I mean, it was just stupid of me. We were in a budget and money was tight back then. I was just being selfish and not thinking about us as a couple.”

That didn’t make Specter feel any better. “That still doesn’t—”

“Look!” Specter jumped at the sudden tone of anger and anxiety in Cagney’s voice. “Just drop it, okay? What I choose to buy or choose not to buy is my own business!”

There was an awkward silence between the two. Cagney suddenly turned around and rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have snapped at you…”

Specter glided over towards Cagney and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry…I understand.”

Cagney stiffed at Specter’s touch. A shiver ran down his stem and went through all over his body. The carnation cleared his throat and headed towards the cash registers with Specter following him. After paying, the ghost and carnation left the grocery store and Cagney turned to head back.

“Well, I gotta go. There’s still some stuff I need to do before Nathan gets home.”

“Cagney, wait!”

Cagney paused and turned to face Specter. The ghost rubbed his hands nervously and cleared his throat. “So um…do you…want to be friends?”

Oh…right. Cagney looked down at the ground and furrowed his brows. His mind was telling him to refuse Specter’s offer of friendship. He knew Nathan was a jealous type and if he ever found out it would not go well with both Specter and himself. Best to keep Nathan from finding out about his interaction with Specter.

Yet…deep inside him a voice was telling him to accept Specter’s offer. The thought of interacting more with Specter sounded wonderful.

Finally after a minute, Cagney looked up and nodded with a small smile on his face.

Specter immediately relaxed and a huge grin was plastered on his face. “That’s great! Oh! Before I forget…” He took out a pencil and a piece of paper, wrote something down and handed it to Cagney. “It’s the phone number for the Phantom Express. If you want to get together or something, just call. I’m usually the first one to answer.”

“Thanks, Specter.” Cagney took the piece of paper. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Well great!” Specter grinned. “Well, gotta get back to the Phantom Express. I’ll see you later!”

“You can count on it.”

Specter smiled and flew off with the food for the crew of the ghostly train. Cagney watched him go before heading off back to the apartment. Once again he was feeling very light headed and extremely happy. But why was that? Why did he always feel so happy after talking with Specter? Was it because Specter was the first friend he made here in the city? That’s a possibility.

Well whatever the reason at least there was at least one bright area in his life. A sudden thought made Cagney pause and flinch with dread.

How long will it take before he ruins it?


	5. Nathan

**CH 5: Nathan**

 

It had been two weeks since Cagney became good friends with Specter. Two weeks they had met up at the grocery store for food shopping and chatted with one another as they shopped. Sometimes they met up outside of the store and just walked around the city to chat and Specter helped Cagney recognize buildings so that he would be able to find his way back home again. Meeting up with Specter was the highlight of Cagney’s day and it gave him a chance to relax, to freely laugh at Specter’s witty remarks and jokes, and also to feel like himself and not worry about walking on eggshells around Nathan.

The nightshade flower was just as condescending and aggressive as usual, but still Cagney put up with it. Surely the fear and uneasy feelings towards his boyfriend was worth the relief he felt whenever he was around Specter.

So Cagney was extremely surprised when Nathan told him that he was going to accompany Nathan to the location of his new job. Cagney had never gone out with Nathan whenever he left the apartment. Usually he was supposed to remain in the apartment when he wasn’t food shopping or anything like that. But here he was inside the car and driving downtown with Nathan at the wheel chattering once again about the new job he received.

“I’m telling ya’ babe, this new job is going to be a lot better than the last one. Great pay, the chance to use my skills, plus the perks aren’t so bad as well!”

Cagney forced himself to smile and gave a nod. “Well, I’m glad you managed to get the job you wanted. Maybe this could be a start of something new.”

“Oh how right you are,” Nathan smirked. “There’s gonna be a lot of changes for the both of us.”

Cagney felt a twinge of unease on how Nathan said that. “What do you mean?”

“Well obvious,” Nathan scoffed, “I ain’t gonna be home as often as I need to be. That’s why we’re going to have to figure out how I can keep an eye on you.”

“But why?” Cagney was not liking the sound of this. “I can—” He immediately trailed off when he saw the glint in Nathan’s eyes. The same glint he saw just this morning. Gulping, Cagney looked down at his leaf hand and said nothing more.

“Look Cag,” Nathan went on, “I know you think you can take care of yourself, but you really can’t. I mean, look at how you burned the toast this morning.”

How could he forget? Cagney had learned his lesson for ruining the breakfast toast. He could still feel the ache around his neck and his back from when Nathan had grabbed him around the neck and slammed him against the wall. It took a lot of apologizing from Cagney until he finally released him and walked away as if nothing happened.

Cagney awoke from his thoughts when Nathan placed a leaf hand on his shoulder.

“I’m doing this for your own good, babe.” Nathan reassured. “You’re nothing without me.”

There was a minute of silence before it was broken by Cagney’s small voice. “I know…”

Satisfied, Nathan settled back and continued on driving with Cagney staring out the window and feeling extremely miserable. Misery was overcome by realization when they passed by a junkyard and then a theater. Cagney knew he had seen these places before and anticipation slowly dawned on him. The car suddenly skidded to a stop in front of a railroad where the red lights were blinking.

“Damnit!” Nathan swore. “It’s gonna take this train forever to pass through!”

A familiar whistle echoed through the air and sure enough the Phantom Express drove past them. Cagney sat up in his seat, eyes darting back and forth as he searched for the familiar ghost.  As usual the caboose was the last one to go past them and from the railing of the caboose wearing a huge grin on his face was Specter, hanging onto the railings and letting his body wave like a flag on a windy day.

Cagney immediately pressed his leaf hand against his mouth to stifle the laughter that was threatening to erupt at the sight of Specter. Nathan however didn’t seem to share the same thoughts as Cagney.

“Puh!” Nathan snorted. “Look at that moron. Idiot is gonna fall and get himself killed.”

“But he’s a ghost,” Cagney blurted out.

“And how would you know?”

Cagney froze when he realized what he said. Nathan was staring at him in suspicion and Cagney’s mouth became dry.

“Umm…well…”

Thankfully the crossing light turned green and they drove right across the railway. After a while they pulled up in a parking lot and Nathan shut off the car.

“Right through there, that’s where big money is waiting.”

Cagney turned his head and sure enough it was the same entrance he had came upon the day he met King Dice. He didn’t feel as nervous when they both went through the dark tunnel and came out the other side at the casino. In fact he was very ecstatic. But why? Was he hoping to see Specter in the casino? He doubted the ghost would be in the casino at the moment. He was probably still working.

The casino was just as noisy and the smell of smoke was just as overwhelming. Even though it was just his second time visiting, Cagney was able to recognize areas of the casino. He had to thank Specter for that. He then felt a sharp slap over his head and he flinched.

“Ow! Nathan, what was that for?”

“I was talking to you!” Nathan snapped. “Didn’t you hear a word I said?”

Cagney sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

Nathan shoved a silver dollar into Cagney’s palm. “Go buy me a drink, will ya’? I gotta go talk business with the new boss.”

Cagney sighed. “Sure.”

“OK, see ya’ later.”

Again Nathan tugged on Cagney’s petals sharply before walking off and humming a little tune to himself. Cagney rubbed his petals again and walked off with a groan. Thank goodness he knew where the bar was located.

 

* * *

 

 

“Pleeaaasee Marian?”

“I told you time and time again and the answer is still no!”

Specter clasped his hands together in a begging motion and pleaded with the martini glass. “C’mon, just one free drink? I had a rough morning!”

“No can do, kid.” The martini glass sniffed. “If you really want a drink, you gotta buy one.”

“But I don’t have any money with me.”

“Then you can’t have a drink.”

Specter slumped down and scowled. “T-bone put you up to it, didn’t he?”

“Casino policy, kid.” Marian Martini answered. “No free drinks for non-employees.” She paused for a minute and then smiled. “The five dollars from T-bone wasn’t bad either.”

“Oh great…” With a long groan Specter drifted down to the floor and melted into a ghostly puddle of resentment. He had no idea how long he remained seething as a puddle but eventually he heard Marian speak to a new customer.

“Hey there, handsome! What’ll it be for you?”

“Um yeah, what’s the best drink you’ve got?”

Specter poked his head out from the puddle at the sound of that familiar voice.

“Well we’ve got the Southside, the Mary Pickford, the Bee’s Knee’s,” Marian listed off the list of drinks.

“Hmm, well I guess I’ll get the Southside and a glass of water then.”

“Coming right up!”

Marian went off to prepare the drink as Specter slowly drifted upwards. He smiled and spoke softly.

“Hi Cagney.”

The flower stiffened slightly and he slowly turned around. “Specter…I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah, same!” Specter smiled. “What are you doing here, huh?”

“Oh, uh…” Cagney glanced around nervously before answering, “Nathan got this new job and he took me along to accompany him.”

Specter frowned at Cagney’s nervous impression. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just that…Nathan doesn’t like it when I talk to others.”

A bad feeling began to form inside of Specter. “Why is that?”

“I don’t know…maybe he thinks I’m going to run off with someone else.”

Specter couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “Well, he doesn’t have to worry. I mean, we’re just friends after all.”

Just friends.

That caused a twinge of discomfort in Specter but he brushed it away. From the corner of his eye he immediately spotted Marian coming back and with a yelp he immediately melted back down to a puddle. Cagney stared down at the ghost as Marian placed a light yellow drink in front of him.

“There you go, sweetie. Enjoy!”

She walked off to attend to another customer and Specter raised himself up from the puddle and blinked up at Cagney. “Is she gone?”

“Yeah, she is.”

Specter breathed a sigh of relief as he reformed in front of Cagney. “Good! Was afraid she was going to spot me again.”

Cagney smiled. “One too many drinks?”

“Too much begging for drinks, actually.”

“Rough day so far?”

Specter groaned and rubbed his forehead. “You have no idea. First we lost some luggage, some of the passengers began to complain because of that so we had to calm them down, then we got held up when we came across a cow who didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘move it’ making us late, not to mention T-Bone has been cranky all day because of these incidents.”

Cagney smirked. “Yeah, that does sound rough. Was that why you were hanging out of the caboose?”

Specter stared at him in surprise. “Oh, you saw that?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” Specter felt himself grow hot. “Must’ve looked like an idiot…”

“No, I thought it was funny.”

“Funny? Like funny ha-ha or funny stupid?”

Cagney took a sip of his water. “Let’s just say you brightened up my day by acting like a flag.”

This cheered Specter somewhat and he grinned.

“Ahem…”

Specter flinched and slowly looked up to see Marian glaring down at him. The martini glass raised a brow. “Did you manage to scrounge up some money, Specs?”

“Erm…no, not really…”

“Then out of the bar! OUT!”

Specter yelped and flew out of the bar as if Marian was about to chase after him with a bottle. Because of past encounters with the other two bar tenders it wouldn’t have been surprised if she did.

“Hey! Wait up!”

Outside the bar Specter slowed to a stop as Cagney reached him. Specter bit his bottom lip and stared down at the floor, wringing his hands. “Oh, sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s no problem,” Cagney laughed a bit. “Seems like she’s not too fond of you.”

“Nah,” Specter grinned. “Though she’s a lot better than her other two co-workers. Willie once threw a huge beer mug at me once.” Noticing the expression on Cagney’s face, Specter reassured him, “It didn’t do anything. I’m a ghost. It just went through!”

“Do they always treat you like that here?”

“Nah, not all the time. Some are better than others.” Specter shrugged. “Hey, don’t worry about me. It’s all good.”

“Well okay…” Cagney still didn’t look convinced.

Specter placed his hand on Cagney’s shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. “It’s okay Cagney, really. Trust me.”

Cagney blushed and he felt some giddiness deep inside him. Shaking his head he shoved Specter playfully making the ghost laugh.

“Cag!”

Cagney froze at the sound of an angry voice. Turning around he felt his throat close in fear at the sight of a deadly nightshade storming towards him. Nathan stopped in front of the carnation and the ghost as he glared at Specter. “Babe, who is this?”

Cagney swallowed and introduced Specter. “Nathan, this is my friend, Specter.”

Specter gave the other flower a smile and held out a hand to shake. “Hey there! So you’re the famous Nathan, huh? Cagney spoke a lot about you.”

“Did he now?” Nathan asked, glaring at the ghost.

Specter’s smile faded and he put his hand down. Cagney coughed and held out the Southside. “I…got you your drink, babe.”

Nathan snatched the drink from Cagney’s hand and gulped it down in one swallow. Sneering in disgust, he tossed the glass to one side. “C’mon babe, let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“Business with the boss is over. Let’s go…now.”

He gripped Cagney’s arm tightly and gave it a sharp tug. Cagney flinched and looked over at Specter, mouthing an apology. Specter gave him an understanding smile. With that Cagney was led away by Nathan. Once outside, Cagney struggled to loosen Nathan’s grip.

“Nathan! What the hell is wrong with you?! He’s one of my friends!”

“Yeah, and you two looked too friendly with each other…” Nathan growled as they went through the tunnel and came out into the parking lot.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Cagney rolled his eyes. “For Cohl’s sakes, we were just talking! OW!”

Cagney was thrown against the car with a thud. Nathan opened the passenger door and glared at the carnation who had sunk to the ground doubled over in pain. “Get in the car, Cag.”

Cagney stared up at his boyfriend, anger and fear blazing in his eye.

“GET IN THE CAR!” Nathan roared.

The anger disappeared from Cagney’s eyes and was replaced by terror. He slowly stood up and meekly climbed into the car.

“Now don’t move,” Nathan threated before slamming the car door shut. He turned and stormed off and Cagney could do nothing except hold himself to keep his panic from rising.

 

* * *

 

 

T-bone glanced down at his pocket watch before glancing up. He sighed in relief at the sight of the blue ghost floating towards them.

“Well, you’re 20 minutes early, Specs. That’s highly unusual for you."

“Mmph,” Specter shrugged as he floated into the train.

T-Bone frowned. Specter being early was highly unusual even for him. What was more unusual was his lack of response to him and his quiet attitude. That wasn’t like the mischievous ghost who enjoyed joking wit him. 

“Hey!”

Both T-bone and Specter turned to see a nightshade flower standing in front of them, fuming with rage.

“Good day sir,” T-bone greeted the flower. “Are you boarding on the Phantom Express?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Nathan pointed towards Specter. “I just wanted to warn that jackass that I’ve seen lots of guys hanging around Cag. They pretend to be friends but I know what they want. I’ve broken every one of those guys in two and I can do the same!”

Specter glared at Nathan. He was liking this guy less and less. T-bone placed himself in front of Specter and pointed a warning finger at Nathan. “If you’re not going to ride, then I suggest you get a move on. I won’t let you threaten any of the crew members here.”

“Well he’d better stay away from Cag!” Nathan shouted. “He’s mine, you hear me? I own him! He belongs to me!”

Specter clenched his fists and made a move towards Nathan. Fortunately for Nathan, T-bone immediately jumped in between them and glared at Nathan. “Sir, I’m giving you one final warning, leave now or I’m calling the cops!”

Nathan glared at T-bone before taking a step back. “Fine then. Hope he got the message.” Without another word Nathan turned and stormed off.

“Wise ass,” T-bone growled as he shut the passenger car door. He turned to Specter. “What was—”

“I hate that bastard!” Specter growled. “I hate him!”

“Calm down, Spec.” T-bone tried to calm the ghost. “He’s just a bastard who thinks he’s all tough. We won’t be seeing him again.”

Specter merely snorted and stormed to his caboose. Entering the caboose, he went over to his bed and curled up on it, rage flaring inside him.

It all made sense now. The nervousness Cagney displayed, the small tidbits he heard about Nathan not letting him talk to others and guilt-tripping him, the displays of aggressiveness towards Cagney, it was clear as daylight. Nathan was hurting Cagney. He was so sure of this, but still there was a twinge of doubt inside him.

He was just a ghost who was pining for someone already in a relationship. What if he was determined to see anything bad in Nathan because of jealousy? Jealous that Cagney was in a relationship with him. Specter pulled his pillow closer to him and buried his face into it. He tried so hard to accept that Cagney was already in a relationship, but for the past two weeks every time he was with the carnation his attraction towards him only continued to grow and the more he heard about the relationship the more he felt a desire to take Cagney away. But was it really because he cared or just selfish jealousy?

Specter groaned and closed his eyes to think. Questions and conflicting feelings plagued his mind but there was one thing he knew.

“Cagney,” He whispered to himself. “I think I’m starting to fall for you…”


	6. Investigation

**CH 6: Investigation**

 

Specter didn’t know how long he laid on the bed miserable and depressed but the next thing he knew he was waking up. That surprised him for he didn’t remember drifting off to sleep. Sitting up he saw a plate of cookies at the foot of his bed and a note. Curious, he read it.

 

_I figured you needed a break today so I let you off for today’s shift. Thought this would help you feel better._

_T-bone._

Specter snorted. “How old does he think I am? Five?”

Still he was touched by this gesture and who could say no to cookies? Picking one up, Specter nibbled it. Spider cookies…his favorite. He took a bigger bite of the cookie when at that moment the door opened just a crack and T-bone peeked in.

“Oh, so you’re finally awake.”

“Guess so.” Specter shrugged.

T-bone entered the caboose and sat next to Specter, hands clasped in front of him. The two sat in silence until T-bone spoke.

“So, you had a good nap?”

“Mm,” Specter shrugged. “How long have I’ve been asleep?”

“Four hours.”

Specter nearly choked on the cookie. “F-four hours?! Why did you let me sleep that long?”

“Thought you needed a break. After what happened between that flower, you seemed pretty steamed.”

“Oh…” Specter’s bad mood immediately returned at the memory of Nathan. He glanced down at his cookie and imagined it as Nathan before taking a huge bite of it.

“Feel better?” T-bone asked.

“Mmph,” Specter grumbled.

“So what happened between you and that guy?”

“Nothing,” Specter grumbled again. “He just thought I was trying to steal Cagney.”

T-bone blinked. “Cagney?”

“The flower that we took home…”

“Ohhh.”

There was a minute of silence again and it was Specter who broke the silence this time.

“He’s hurting Cagney!”

“What?”

“That bastard is hurting Cagney!”

T-bone merely stared at him.

“You don’t believe me?!” Specter’s voice nearly squeaked with insult.

“No, I do,” T-bone reassured the ghost, “but do you have any proof of that?”

“Cagney gets nervous when he talks about him,” Specter said right off the bat, “he told me about things he can and cannot  due, all because Nathan said so. I saw it myself at the casino! He treats him badly.”

“Well what can we do?” T-bone asked.

“I…” Here Specter hesitated and he thought about this. “I…I don’t…know. But…we need to do something!”

T-bone sighed in regret. “Look Specs, what that flower is going through sounds awful…but we’re just railway workers. There’s nothing much we can do without getting into trouble.”

Specter didn’t look convinced.

T-bone sighed and placed a skeletal hand on his shoulder. “Look, how about you take a break?”

“Huh?” Specter blinked.

“Take a break. A rest, a vacation. I know things have been really stressful today and I’ve been acting—”

“Like an asshole?”

T-bone glared down at the ghost. “Like a warden.” He growled. “But yes, if you want to call it that then…look, just relax for a few days. You got a lot on your mind, all right?”

Specter sighed and reached out for another cookie. However he felt nothing but crumbs. Scowling, Specter suddenly had a thought. “Hey T-bone, can I do anything on this little vacation?”

“Sure.”

“Well…can I visit Inwell Isle One?”

T-bone was confused. “What for?”

Specter smiled and raised his hands up. “Oh…just heard a lot of great things about it and just wanted to see it with my own eyes.”

T-bone suspected there was more to this but he sighed and nodded. “Okay. Inkwell Isle One it is then.” He stood up and headed out of the caboose. “I’ll tell you when we arrive on that isle.”

“Thanks T-bone!” Specter smiled. “I really appreciate this!”

Once T-bone was gone, Specter floated over towards the window and looked out at the landscape passing by. Perhaps this vacation might be beneficial to him.

 

* * *

 

 

The first thing Specter noticed about Inkwell Isle One was that everything was green. There were green fields, green trees, green meadows, everything was nearly green. It was a bit of a shock to someone who had lived with dark gray colors. Still he had a job to do and color was not part of it. After waving good bye to the rest of the Phantom Express crew, Specter went off to do a bit of exploring and to find some good information.

After searching around the area he found himself in front of a caravan wagon with a sign above that said “PORKRIND EMPORIUMS”. Specter couldn’t help but smirk at the name. Porkrind…was he some sort of pig or something? He entered the wagon where it was nice and cool, a relief from the hot sun.

“Welcome!” A low guttural voice boomed. Indeed there was a large pig with an eyepatch who sat behind the counter. Specter gave a small smile and went up to the counter. “Are you Porkrind?”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya’?” The pig snorted. “Are ya’ gonna buy something or not?”

“I’m actually here for something else.”

Porkrind narrowed his eye. “Oh yeah? What is it?”

“Information,” Specter answered, “what do you know about a flower named Cagney Carnation?”

Porkrind rubbed a finger against his chin as he fell deep in thought. “Hmm, Cagney Carnation…that name rings a bell…”

“Yellow with orange petals,” Specter added in hopes of giving the pig a memory boost.

The pig’s eye widened with realization. “Ah, yeah I remember now. Nice kid…quiet though.”

“Why was that?” Specter asked.

Porkrind shrugged. “How should I know? He would sometimes stop by to get several items and just leave without hanging around. Never spoke unless spoken to, unlike some punks that I know.”

“Do you know where he used to live?”

“Nah, not a clue.” Porkrind thought about it for a moment. “Although, maybe you ought to ask the Root Pack. They hung around Cagney back in their younger days”

“Okay…any idea where they live?”

Porkrind pointed out the door. “Yeah, right across from here down the path a little bit. Large garden. Can’t miss it.”

“Great! Thanks very much!”

“No problem. Goodbye.”

 

* * *

 

 

After leaving Porkrind’s Emporium, Specter headed down the path and in just a few seconds he came across a large vegetable garden.

“Huh, so the pig was right.”

Floating over to the fence he paused for a minute and cleared his throat. “Um, excuse me? I’m looking for the Root Pack.”

The ground began to tremble and out from the ground popped three vegetables, the largest vegetables Specter had ever seen. There was a potato with his eyes narrowed to crinkled slits and a curled up lip as if wanting to take a bite out of something…or someone. The next vegetable was an onion and his face was screwed up as if ready to burst into tears for whatever reason. Only the carrot seemed to be the most normal looking one and he glared down at the ghost.

“We’re the Root Pack. What’s it to ya’?”

“I heard you three knew Cagney Carnation.”

“Huh,” The carrot looked thoughtful. “Hadn’t heard that name in a long while…”

“And what’s it to ya’ that we knew Cagney?” The potato snapped. “You got a problem with that or something?”

“Calm down, Moe,” The carrot spoke calmly, “I’m sure this mug has some reason for coming here to ask about Cags.”

“Yeah, I do.” Specter nodded. “He’s…well, he’s a friend of mine…”

The onion suddenly smiled. “Ohh, is Cagney coming back home? It’s been awhile since he’s been home! You think he might come back, Psy?”

“Could be, Weepy.” Psy shrugged. “Maybe Cagney is finally coming home for good.”

“Pfft, what home?” Moe snorted before the carrot could answer. “That weed hasn’t had a home since forever.”

Specter blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Cag was a foster.”  

“A…what?”

“A foster. You know, those kids who don’t have a family so they’re moved around from family to family until they get adopted or they’re kicked out once they reach 18.”

Weepy looked like he was about to burst into tears again. “Ohh, it’s very sad! You see that tire swing?”

Specter glanced over at the tree Weepy was pointing at and noticed the tire swing hanging listlessly from the branches.

“Cagney used to sit there when we were kids and sometimes he would tell us things.”

“What kind of things?”

“Like nobody loved him or wanted him because no family kept him for so long.” Weepy gave a sob. “He was really sad whenever he talked about it. He never even found a family who wanted him. It’s so sad!”

Specter felt an ache of grief when he heard this. If only Cagney knew how much Specter wanted him to be part of his life.

“Yeah, real shame.” Moe stretched. “Guess that’s why he went off to the city. Wanted to belong somewhere. Puh, stupid choice if you ask me. Who ever heard of a flower living in a huge city?”

“I just hope he found someone he loved,” Weepy gave a shuddering sigh.

“Hmph,” Specter frowned with resentment. “Have you’ve ever heard of someone named Nathan Nightshade?”

“Nah,” Psy shrugged. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Oh, OK.” Specter straightened up. “Well, thanks for your help.”

“Oh before ya’ go,” Psy held up a hand. “We just wanna know…why are you so interested in finding out about Cagney?”

Specter hesitated before inhaling slowly. “OK, look…Cagney isn’t in a good situation right now and I’m trying to figure out how he got into that situation in the first place.”

Weepy gasped. “Oh no! Is he in trouble?”

Moe immediately put up his fists as if ready to fight. “Who’s the punk messing with him? We can go over there and—”

“No!” Specter snapped. “I can deal with it myself. You’ve done enough, thanks.”

Psy frowned. “Not to be nosy, but it seems like you’re more than just a friend to him…if you’re so willing to help him out all by yourself.”

Specter said nothing but he nodded slowly. “Yeah…I guess it is more than that.”

“Oh?”

Specter turned his back against the Root Pack and remained floating there. When he spoke his voice was calm and confident. “I love him.”

He glided off without looking back at the Root Pack. Determination was swelling inside him as he headed towards the direction of the city. He had learned the first part of Cagney’s story. Now it’s time to figure out the last.


	7. Rumor

**CH 7: Rumor**

 

“Can you check again please?” Specter asked for the fiftieth time through the phone. “It’s Carnation. C-A-R—”

“I’m sorry sir,” the receptionist at the other end of the line spoke, “but there is no Cagney Carnation working in this department. You should call somewhere else.”

Specter sighed. “OK…thanks anyways.”

He hung up the phone and sighed. Once again another call resulted in nothing. He glanced through the glass window of the phone booth towards the public clock.

Noon already? Where had the last four hours had gone?

The ghost pushed aside the phone booth doors and drifted out, feeling extremely discouraged. He had arrived back at the city really late last night and had to check in at the Iwerks Hotel to get some rest. Early that morning he had woken up to find more information about Cagney but so far nobody was able to tell him what happened to Cagney when the flower first arrived in the city. With each dead end Specter was feeling more and more discouraged.

He found himself among the docks where different kinds of ships were anchored. Sighing, the ghost sat at the edge of the docks and stared down at the water.

“It’s gonna take me a miracle to find out what happened to Cagney when he first came here…”

“Arrr,” A low growling voice interrupted his thoughts. “Ye be looking for Cagney Carnation?”

Specter glanced up. A large ship was glaring down at him and at the helm of the ship was a large burly pirate with a black bushy mane and an eyepatch.

Specter blinked. “Huh? Oh, well I was just trying to find out if he works anywhere here. He’s…a friend of mine.”

“Arr,” The pirate grinned. “It just might be I know the whereabouts of his old quarters.”

Specter leaped up in excitement. “You mean you know something about him?!”

“Aye, that too.”

“Oh thank you!” Specter grinned. “I’ve been trying to find out any information about him! Can you tell me where he works or at least used to work?”

“I’ll tell ye,” The pirate pointed at Specter, “but first ye have to dance a jig around the dock and croon ‘Danny Boy’ in a high falsetto.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“What?” Specter blinked.

The pirate threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Just kidding! Arr!”

The pirate ship suddenly rolled its eyes and Specter could swear he heard a deep rumble coming from inside it which sounded similar to a groan. After having a good laugh the pirate pointed at the buildings across the bay. “Cagney used to work yonder for Rumor Honeybottom.”

“Could you take me there?”

“Aye, for five gold doubloons.”

“But, I don’t have any gold doubloons…” Specter admitted.

“Then do ye have the Florentine Diamond?”

“No.”

“Do ye have a penny then?”

Specter grinned and pulled out a penny, tossing it over to the pirate. “That, I do.”

“Deal!” The pirate caught the penny and motioned for Specter to come aboard.  With his confidence returning, Specter flew into the ship and stood at the helm as the ship sailed across the bay towards the large buildings. As the buildings came closer Specter noticed how the largest skyscraper was in the shape of a large beehive.

“Rumor Honeybottom be th' leader o' th' bee workers thar.” The pirate pointed at the beehive skyscraper. “Ye needs t' watch how ye address her when speakin' t' her.”

“Got it…” Specter nodded.

They finally landed on the docks and Specter leapt out from the ship. “Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it!”

“Arr, 'twas no problem.” The pirate chuckled. “Hope ye find wha' ye're lookin' fer.”

“I hope so too,” Specter was about to leave when he paused. “Oh, I didn’t get your name.”

“Me name be Captain Briney Beard.” The pirate bowed. “At yer service!”

“Thanks Briney Beard!” Specter grinned. “I won’t forget this!

With one last wave goodbye Specter glided off and headed towards the large skyscraper. Reaching it he was alarmed to find it a lot bigger than he realized. A wave of uncertainty came over him and he was sorely tempted to leave. However the thought of Cagney gave him a wave of determination.

“It’s for Cagney,” He muttered to himself, “remember that. For Cagney.”

Gulping, Specter reached out and pushed the doors open. A wave of noise came over him. The noise of buzzing and chattering as bees flew around the air heading this way and that. There was a secretary desk sitting in the middle of the room and behind it was a large wall of honeycomb. The honeycomb stretched high above them and Specter could see that there were no floors only small ledges sticking out from some of the honeycomb.

Specter glided over to the secretary’s desk where a female honeybee was diligently working on her typewriter and didn’t even glance up when Specter approached her. He waited for awhile but still the honeybee made no attempt to acknowledge him. He finally cleared his throat.

“Hello. I’m here to talk to Rumor Honeybottom. I heard she might have some information about a friend of mine.”

“Do you have an appointment?” The secretary continued on tapping on the typewriter.

“Uhhh…” Specter flinched. “Noo…”

Finally the honeybee stopped her typing long enough to open up a folder and file through the papers. “Her majesty Honeybottom can only see clients if they make an appointment with her.”

“Okay, well then I’ll make one.” Specter shrugged.

“Fine…she can see you in about…oh a week before Christmas.”

“A week before Christmas?!” Specter yelped. “But it’s the beginning of June right now!”

“Sorry honey,” The honeybee didn’t sound sorry, “but that’s the way it goes.”

Specter folded his arms and glared at the secretary. He glanced up at the honeycomb again and an idea came to him. It was risky and would possibly mean being booted out of the building forever or even sent to prison.

But it’s for Cagney.

Taking a deep breath, Specter zoomed up towards the roof of the building, ignoring the shrieks of alarm from the secretary. The air around Specter was thrumming with vibrations and buzzing sounds. Bees surrounded him and he wasn’t sure whether they were trying to catch him or fleeing from him. He didn’t care. His main focus was the very top of the honeycomb.

Finally he reached the top and flew into a large room filled with fancy curtains, large comfortable armchairs, and a throne sat at the far end of the wall. Sitting on the throne was a large honeybee with a crown on her head. Specter skidded to a stop and turned to face the bee who had an expression on her face as if Specter had burst out of the insane asylum.

“Ms. Rumor Honeybottom?” Specter asked.

The honeybee immediately glared at the ghost. “Who are you? How dare you burst into my chambers without my permission?” She banged her scepter against the floor two times. “Guards! GUARDS! Take him away!”

“Wait!” Specter held up his hands. “I don’t mean any harm! I just wanted to talk to you!”

“Without making an appointment?” Rumor snapped. “That is not how we do things around here!” She banged her scepter again. “GUARDS!”

“But it’s urgent!” Specter cried out. “It’s about Cagney!”

Rumor Honeybottoms blinked and squinted at the ghost. “Cagney? You know Cagney Carnation?”

Specter nodded. Suddenly a bee dressed in a police uniform flew into the room and immediately saluted. “What is the problem, your majesty?” It was then he noticed Specter and immediately took out a ticking time bomb. The bee glared at the ghost suspiciously. “Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you here to harm Queen Honeybottoms?”

“Now, now, Bobby,” Rumor Honeybottom’s voice was calmer and had a hint of sweetness in it. “That is no way to speak to our guest.”

“Guest?” The police bee blinked.

“Why of course. We need to let them feel welcomed. Would you tell Bea to send up some tea and toast? “

“Err…” The police bee took the bomb and placed it back inside his uniform. “Of course, your majesty. I’ll get to it right away.”

A few minutes later, Specter found himself sitting in a large armchair as he watched Rumor Honeybottoms pour two cups of tea.

“Would you like some honey for your tea?” She asked politely.

“Um, no it’s fine.” Specter answered.

“Now, what is it about Cagney that you want to know?” Rumor Honeybottoms asked as she poured more tea into her cup.

“I heard that he used to work here,” Specter said, “which is surprising to me since most of your employees seem to be…well bees.”

“Oh yes,” Rumor took a sip of her tea. “Cagney was a flower consultant for my hive. Once a week he would always come in and helped out with meetings and gave some helpful information on different types of flowers. He always knew which flower families made the best nectar in the cities.”

“Did he like working here?”

“Why yes!” Rumor nodded. “He enjoyed it very much and was quite knowledgeable with flowers. However, he still seemed to have an air of sadness around him.”

“Why is that?”

“Cagney came from Inkwell Isle One,” Rumor explained. “I figured he missed his isle and I did tell him that he was free to go back home whenever he wanted. I would have no qualm about him if he had chosen to return back home, but he refused for some reason. He never said why but he said it was better living in this city.”

“Hmm,” Specter took a sip of his tea. “How long had he been working here?”

“Oh for quite some time, three months I believe. Then afterwards he quit his job. Said he would rather remain home with his roommate…Nathan Nightshade.”

Specter froze at the mention of the nightshade’s name. He slowly took several deep breaths before asking, “Have you’ve encountered Nathan Nightshade before?”

“A couple of times,” Rumor pursed her lips. “His family made some business deals with me in the past years. I give them some pollen and they give me their best nectar in return. Not a bad trade off if I do say so myself. In fact, Cagney met Nathan during one of our annual meetings and he immediately fell for him.”

Specter gripped his teacup tighter and gave a low growl.

“But I had my doubts about him…”

Specter looked up. “You did?”

Rumor Honeybottoms nodded gravely. “There was something odd about him…something...well I can’t describe it, but it was something dark. I warned Cagney about it, but he didn’t listen. Said Nathan was very charming and he had fallen for him. I didn’t want to meddle in his relationships, so I said nothing more.” The queen gave a sigh. “Then a month later, he quit his job and I never heard from him again. I just hope he is doing well.”

“Mmph,” Specter didn’t have the heart to tell her what he suspected but there was one more question he wanted to ask. “Do you have any more information about Nathan Nightshade?”

“No,” Rumor said sternly. “I’ve only encountered him a couple of times. I’m afraid I can’t help you there.” She took another sip of her tea and squinted. “Although…there might be someone who could help you with that.”

“Really?” Specter sat up. “Who is it?”

“His name is Werner Werman.” Rumor sniffed in disdain. “But I must warn you, he's a real rat.”

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile in the apartment, Cagney was sitting in the living room with Nathan as the radio played soft jazz music in the background. The nightshade flower wasn’t paying any attention to the carnation. He was more focused on reading the paper while drinking his usual rum. Eventually Cagney cleared his throat.

“Um, Nathan?”

Nathan grunted but didn’t look up. Cagney took this as a sign that he was listening. “Um, I was just thinking—”

“You were thinking?” Nathan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well there’s a first time for everything.”

Cagney gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Heh, yeah, that’s a good one. But um, I was thinking about…us.”

Nathan slowly glanced up from his paper, eyes narrowed. “Us? What do you mean ‘us’?”

“Our relationship,” Cagney explained, “To be honest, I’m getting tired of you always tugging on my petals and—”

“Oh so it’s always about you, isn’t it?”

“No!” Cagney clenched his leaf hands into fists. “It’s just…I don’t think I can do this anymore. Maybe…maybe it’s best that we go our separate ways…even if it’s for a little bit.”

Both flowers said nothing and the only sound came from the radio still playing jazz. Finally Nathan set his paper down and stood up. He walked over to Cagney and sighed. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this…”

In a flash Nathan backhanded Cagney across the face and knocked him to the floor. Cagney felt his cheek burning and tears welled up in his eyes. Nathan gripped him by the petals and yanked him to his knees. The carnation was forced to look into the face of the nightshade and what he saw made him freeze in terror. Nathan had grown bigger and thorns appeared all over his body. His petals looked sharper and his teeth had transformed into sharp fangs.

“You think you can just get up and leave?” Nathan’s voice was low and dangerous. “Where are you going to go? You have no friends, no family, nothing. I let you leave the house, don’t I? I let you do a lot of things, so where are you going to go?!”

Cagney gave a terrified and painful sob as Nathan gave his petals another hard yank. “Nathan, let go! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It was a stupid idea! Forget I said anything, just please, let go!”

“Oh I’ll let you go,” Nathan sneered. “But I think you need to learn a lesson…”

_Oh Cohl,_ Cagney thought as Nathan raised his hand above his head. _I’m dead…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Finally posted all the chapters here!  
> Now I will be able to post up new chapters here as well as Tumblr. ^^


	8. Nightshades

**CH 8: Nightshades**

 

It was fairly easy to find where Werner Werman lived after the visit to Rumor Honeybottoms. It was she who pointed out the way to his living area and Specter was surprised to find it very close, just a block away. Going up the front steps of the front door of the house, Specter knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. After waiting a few minutes with no answer, Specter raised a fist to knock again when he heard a crash coming from the backyard.

Curious, Specter floated down the steps and headed over towards the direction of the noise which was coming from the backyard. Going over the fence Spec saw a rat with his back turned against him, leaning down and picking up several mechanical parts from the ground while simultaneously grumbling to himself. What caught Specter’s eye was the rat’s outfit of lederhosen and a metal helmet. This must be the rat.

Specter floated in closer and cleared his throat. “Mr. Werman?”

The rat suddenly flung himself on the ground and covered his head, yelling, “I VAS NEVER INSIDE ZE DEVIL’S CASINO!”   

Specter stopped in his tracks as the rat continued on a frenzied gibbering.

“I don’t even know anysink about a contract! I never signed anysink!”

Specter didn’t even know what to say. He remained floating just staring at the terrified rat. Eventually Werner looked up cautiously at the ghost. Seeing that he was doing nothing the rat scrambled to his feet and glared at the ghost.

“WHO ARE YOU?!!”

“Relax, relax!” Specter grinned nervously as he held up his hands. “I’m not from the casino…I just came here because I heard you knew stuff about Nathan Nightshade.”

Werner blinked at this. “Nathan Nightshade?”

Specter nodded.

“Ach!” Werner hissed in dismay. “Vy vould you vant to know anything about zat arschloch?”

Specter had no idea what an “arschloch” was but by the way Werner made it sound it was probably something bad. “Personal reasons. I have a friend who is currently living with Nathan and…well I think he’s in a bad situation at the moment.”

“Ach!” Werner hissed again. “Not surprisink. Nothink good vill come from zat nightshade.” The rat looked around and immediately scurried towards the house, motioning Specter to come with him. “Follow me! It’s not safe out here!”

Specter had no idea why the rat was being so fidgety but he followed him anyway. Inside the house, Werner motioned Specter to sit before closing the window blinds and scurrying from room to room as if making sure nobody was hiding in order to overhear their conversation. As Werner did this, Specter looked around the room and noticed the war medals hanging up on the wall. So this rat was a veteran of the Great War? Was that the reason why he was so fidgety? That would make sense.

Finally Werner came back to the living room and seated himself in the armchair across from Specter. Clasping his hands together, he narrowed his eyes at Specter.

“So…you vould like to know more about zee nightshade, eh?”

Specter nodded.

“Ach, vat is zere to tell?” Werner shrugged. “I know he came from a fery powerful family. Huge bigshots in some sort of Nectar Company and because of zis, they treated smaller fellows like dreck.”

“Really?”

“Yah!” Werner nodded furiously. “Zey have no concern over zeir employers, believe zey are better zan zem, and zink zose below zem do not deserve any respect!”

“And how do you know all this, Mr. Werman?”

“I’ve encountered zem one time!” Werner gave an indignant squeak. “You see, it isn’t easy shtartink a new life in an unknown city. I’ve tried to sell some metal scraps to others ven I first came here. Vell, I tried to sell two mechanical gears to two of the nightshades and mein gott, you vouldn’t believe vat zey did!”

“What? What did they do?”

“Ach! They laughed! Laughed at how pathetic I vas! Zey also called me a…a…”

Werner clenched his fists and was trembling with rage.

“A what?” Specter asked.

“A KRAUT!” Werner snapped. “Zey called me a Kraut!”

“And…that’s bad?”

“Ach, yah!”

There was an awkward silence between the ghost and the rat before Specter cleared his throat. He wasn’t here to learn more about the nightshade family history. He would rather learn more about one particular nightshade.

“OK, so let me see if I have this correctly … basically Nathan came from a very higher up class of flowers…and so he believes he can get away with just about anything?”

“Yah,” Werner grumbled. “Zose nightshades are extremely vealthy. If one gets in trouble with the law, zey have big shot lawyers to get zem out. They zink they are the best type of flowers out zere because of zeir success and vealth, but zey are poison!”

“I don’t doubt that,” Specter frowned. “Have you’ve ever encountered Nathan Nightshade before?”

 “Nein, not personally.” Werner shook his head. “I have seen him around before. Him and zis yellow flower, not sure who he is…”

Specter immediately straightened up. “Tell me more about this.”

“Eh?”

“Nathan and the yellow flower. Have you’ve seen how they interact or what Nathan does to this flower?"

“Oh yah,” Werner sat back and lit up a cigar. After taking a few puffs he answered, “Once I vas on one of my usual patrols around the city. I passed by one of zose American beer halls and from the alleyway next to it I heard shouting. Vell I sought zis vas fery odd and decided to investigate. Around the corner I saw the nightshade yelling at zee smaller yellow flower, fists raised and shaking. Ach, the yellow one looked absolutely terrified, shrinking to a small size as zee nightshade grew bigger. Vell zey spotted me and zee nightshade began to act as if nothing had happened. Claimed it vas a lover’s quarrel, nothing more.”

Lover’s Quarrel. Specter growled at this excuse. “What else happened?”

Werner shrugged. “Nightshade grabbed the flower by the arm and zey left immediately. I hafen’t seen either of zem since zen.”

“Oh…well do you know where he lives?” Specter saw the expression on Werner’s face and he sighed. “It’s for my friend. I want to help him.”

The rat then stood up and went over to his window, lifting the curtains up a tiny bit and his eyes darted around, scanning what was going on outside. “Yah,” he spoke, “I haff been keeping an eye on zat apartment of zeirs. All is quiet so far.”

Specter immediately went over to him and glanced out the window. Werner pointed at a red building that was slightly taller than the rest of the building. “Zat is where Nightshade lives. You vill find him zere.”

“Thanks,” Specter nodded. “I really appreciate the help.”

The ghost started towards the door when suddenly Werner yelled, “HALT!”

Specter stopped dead in his tracks and turned to stare at the rat.

“I forgot to tell you,” Werner’s voice was low and grave. “Since the Nightshades are fery powerful, zey have eyes everywhere. I vouldn’t be surprised if zis one has spies all over the place.”

“Good to know,” Specter tried not to sound nervous about that. “Well, I’ll just make sure not to get caught then. See you around.”

Stepping outside Specter climbed down the front steps of the house and went out to the street. At that moment a car drove past and Specter thought he saw the driver glance back at him, narrowing his eyes in suspicion before driving off. Werner’s warnings about spies everywhere caused Specter to shudder.

 

* * *

 

 

It took awhile for Specter to get to the apartment building Werner had indicated. He had to duck down a lot of alleyways whenever a car passed by which was every so often. Despite the rat’s eccentric personality, Specter believed what he said was genuine. Eventually he walked around a block and a few buildings down as the red apartment building. Specter narrowed his eye and started to head over there. So Nathan thinks he can get away with anything? Well he’s about to find out wrong.

Specter was just a few feet away from the building when suddenly a car pulled up in front of the building. Yelping, the ghost immediately flew through the building’s walls and hid there. He slowly peeked out from the wall to see when the coast was clear and the black car was still standing there. The door of the building opened and out came a familiar flower that made Specter seethe with anger. Nathan headed straight towards the black car and opened the driver’s seat to get in.

“What took ya’ so long, Nathan?” A voice came from the car. “Usually you’re already outside and waiting for us!”

“Had to take care of business inside.” Specter heard Nathan say. “But it’s taken care of now. C’mon, we better not keep the boss waiting any longer.”

Specter cursed to himself as the black car drove off. Damnit, now he won’t be able to face the nightshade face to face. He could always fly after the car, but Specter had no idea how many of Nathan’s pals were inside the black car.

A thought suddenly came to Specter. Nathan had said he took care of business inside. What kind of business would he take care of unless it was…?

Specter gasped in realization. “Cagney!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Lord, Werner was so hard to write! T_T  
> Apologies if this chapter is too short. I promise I will try to write longer chapters!


	9. Confession

**CH 9: Confession**

 

Specter was getting desperate. He flew back and forth to different apartment doors, knocking desperately on them and asking the residents where Nathan Nightshade lived. The first ten residents who answered him did not know where the apartment of the nightshade was located at and two of them were polite enough to say at least a good bye before slamming the door in Specter’s face.

With each door being shut the more Specter was beginning to panic. Nathan could have done anything to Cagney and many horrible situations went through Specter’s head. What if Cagney was badly hurt? What if he was trapped somewhere? What if…what if he was dying?

Finally on the eleventh door he knocked on, the resident of the apartment knew just where Nathan’s apartment was located at. Fifth floor, fourth door on the right. Thanking him, Specter immediately rushed up four flights of stairs and into the fifth floor. Counting the doors on the right he flew over to the fourth and knocked. He waited for a few minutes but there was no answer. Fearing the worse, Specter knocked again.

“Cag?” He called out. “Cag, it’s me, Specter!”

The minutes of silence seemed to stretch on for hours to Specter when suddenly he heard Cagney.

“Spec?”

Specter nearly melted in relief at the sound of Cagney’s voice. “Yeah, it’s me. Can I come in?”

“No,” Cagney answered from the other side. “I mean, you can’t. I don’t have a key.”

“Hey it’s okay,” Specter reassured. “I can just go through…I’m a ghost after all. So, can I come in?”

There was another moment of silence. Finally Cagney spoke, “Okay…you can come in.”

Specter floated through the door and it wasn’t the spacious apartment or fancy furniture that caught the ghost’s attention. It was the flower curled up on the floor and holding himself. Floating closer to Cagney, Specter was able to see the damage done to the carnation. All over his body were bruises and scratches while some of his petals were ripped and loosely hanging from nearly being ripped off his head.

“C-Cagney?” Specter whispered in horror. Cagney looked up and Specter froze. Cagney’s left eye was bruised black and swollen shut. Both flower and ghost stared at each other in silence until Specter broke it.

“What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing…” Cagney tried to sit up. “What are you doing here anyways? You should leave.”

“Nothing?” Specter exclaimed. “Look at you! You’re shaking on the floor! You need help.”

“No, it’s fine…”

“Cagney please, let me help you.”

Before Cagney could say anything else Specter floated over and helped him up to his feet before gently sitting him on the couch. He then glided over to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before bringing it over to Cagney. The carnation glanced down at the glass of water before taking it from Specter and taking a sip. Specter allowed Cagney to take several more sips before asking, “What happened to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your black eye and your petals…”

“I just fell and banged it on the edge of the table,” Cagney explained. “It’s fine…”

Specter glared at Cagney. “You and I both know that’s not true. Nathan did it and he nearly ripped your petals off.”

“Hey, keep it down!” Cagney hissed. “Do you want the others to hear?”

“Well it might be a good idea if they did!” Specter snorted. “Nathan is hurting you and he’s not going to stop anytime soon!”

Cagney stared at Specter for a minute and then glanced down at the floor. “I can handle it…”

“No you can’t, Cagney!” Specter tried to keep his voice from rising. “Stop lying to yourself! Don’t tell me you’re okay with constantly being pummeled and yelled at by that bastard!”

“Spec, calm down…”

“No, I won’t calm down! It’s like you don’t care whether you get hurt! You need to get away from Nathan, he’s not good for you!”

“And go where?” Cagney snorted. “I have nowhere else to go. Sure Nathan can get aggressive, but he’s the only one I’ve got!”

“And what about going back to Fleischer Fields? What about the Root Pack? Aren’t they your friends?”

Cagney stared at Specter. “You…know about them?”

Specter nodded. “I spoke to them yesterday.”

“Oh…”

“You can go back to Fleischer Fields,” Specter continued. “I can contact them and ask them if they can let you live with them for awhile before going back to Fleischer Fields.”

“I can’t…” Cagney shook his head. “That means leaving Nathan.”

“And?”

“He loves me…”

Specter snorted. “You sure? He has a funny way of showing it.”

“You don’t understand, Spec.”

“I understand enough.”

Cagney glared at the ghost. “I’m not leaving him. I need him.”

“Like hell you do!”

Cagney suddenly slammed the glass down on the coffee table and glared at the ghost. “What is with you?!” The carnation was nearly shouting. “I told you that I’m fine and you just won’t let it drop! Why the hell do you care so much?!”

“It’s because I love you, Cagney!”

Silence followed this proclamation. Cagney merely stared at Specter with surprise and Specter covered his mouth in horror at the realization he had revealed his deep feelings towards the flower. Finally Cagney broke the silence.

“How…how long have you’ve felt that way?”

Specter lowered his hands and inhaled slowly. “I don’t know…I guess…I guess ever since I first saw you at the casino…”

There was another agonizing period of silence between the two. Finally Cagney got up and stormed towards the kitchen. “I suggest you leave now.”

“Cagney,” Specter followed after the flower. “Cagney, I know it’s a shock, but even if you don’t feel the same way, you still need to get out of here. Nathan could—”

Cagney suddenly turned around and Specter was shocked by the amount of rage in Cagney’s expression.

“Look!” Cagney snarled. “I already told you why I won’t leave! I don’t have anywhere else to go! I don’t have anyone who wants me! I’m staying because Nathan loves me and he’s the only guy I got! I stay because otherwise I’d be living in the streets! I stay because-because…” Cagney’s voice started to waver. He took several deep breaths to compose himself before looking straight at Specter. “I stay…because… I deserve everything Nathan does to me.”

“Why would you say that?” Specter’s voice was soft.

Cagney looked away from the ghost and glared off into the distance. “What did the Root Pack tell you about me?”

“That…that you were a foster kid…”

“Did they tell you why though?”

“No…they didn’t.”

“Well…my Ma planted a bunch of her seeds onto the ground…those seeds being me and my siblings. She planted them too late though and winter was approaching fast. The other plants headed to the greenhouses and warmer areas but Ma stayed put. Apparently she wanted to stay with us seedlings until we sprouted.”

Cagney paused and clenched his fists before continuing. “She waited so long for us to sprout that she would rather risk the cold than leave us and…well she didn’t make it. Then when spring came…I was the only one who sprouted. Because of Ma passing away, they sent me to live in different orphanages and then into foster homes. But every single foster home I lived in didn’t want me so they dumped me back in the orphanage. It was like that until I managed to move away…”

Cagney looked down at the ground and wrapped his vine arms around himself, gritted his teeth and blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. “I guess nobody wanted me because I’m just a bad person that nobody will ever love. Then Nathan came into my life and…well here I am…still making mistakes that need punishment.”

A gentle touch on his cheek caused Cagney to look up. Specter had placed his hand on the carnation’s cheek and was looking straight into his eyes. Cagney felt a wetness on his cheek and realized Specter was also tearing up.

“Cag…” Specter’s voice was gentle and loving. “Don’t say that nobody will ever love you. I already told you that I did.”

 “Don’t say that,” Cagney shook his head. “I don’t deserve it…why would you ever fall for someone like me?”

“Because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love the way you laugh, your witty remarks, and you’re the only one who had ever laughed at my antics and jokes. Nobody has ever done that before…well meant it anyway.” Specter smiled. “You said nobody will ever love you…well you just found one who does.”

Cagney stared at the ghost in silence. Part of him wanted to push Specter away, to deny such feelings for the ghost. He didn’t deserve love. He doesn’t deserve to be happy.

And yet…

Cagney suddenly let out a huge sob and the tears began to flow. Cagney placed his forehead against Specter’s chest and let out everything. The pain, fear, and depression he kept inside for so long began to drain away. Specter held the weeping carnation close to him and gently began to stroke his petals. He paused when Cagney froze at the touch.

“S-sorry…I’ll stop if you—”

“No,” Cagney whispered. “Don’t stop. I…I like that…”

“Okay…”

Cagney’s weeping began to slow down as Specter continued on holding him close and stroking his petals. Eventually the sobs died down and he allowed himself to rest against Specter. There the two remained unaware of the world outside of them. For now as far as they were concerned it was only them together even if it was for a brief while.


	10. Confrontation

**Ch 10: Confrontation**

 

“OK, I’m going to put this on now. This might be really cold for a minute…” 

Cagney flinched as an ice pack was pressed against his black eye but soon sighed with relief at the cooling sensation.

“Feeling better?” Specter asked.

“A little, yeah.”

“Just leave it on for fifteen or twenty minutes,” Specter instructed. “Then reapply it in an hour. It will help.”

“Thanks, Specs.” Cagney leaned back against the couch and sighed. “I don’t know what to do, Specs…I don’t want to be living in fear anymore…but you don’t know how Nathan’s like. He says he has friends all over and…I don’t know whether to believe him or not.” 

Specter took Cagney’s leaf hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Believe me Cag, I have a good idea on how Nathan is like.”

Cagney was surprised. “You…you do?”

Specter nodded. “He’s a nasty piece of work, but I’m not going to let him hurt you any longer. All we need to do is figure a way for you to get away from him.”

Cagney snorted. “Hah, fat chance. He’s now starting to lock me in the apartment and won’t even let me go food shopping by myself. ”

Specter gave Cagney’s leaf hand another reassuring squeeze. “We’ll find a way, Cag. When we do, maybe we can get you on the Phantom Express. We can take you anywhere you would like to go. You’ll finally be free of Nathan.”

“Hmm,” Cagney laid his head on Specter’s shoulder. “I would like that…”

Specter stiffened at the sensation of Cagney laying his head on his shoulder before he relaxed and rested his cheek on Cagney’s head. He closed his eye and the two remained like that until Cagney broke the silence. “What time is it?”

Specter glanced over at the clock. “Umm…four forty…”

“Oh Cohl!” Cagney gasped as he pulled away from Specter. “You gotta go now!”

“What?” Specter blinked.

“Nathan comes home around five,” Cagney informed as he tried to get Specter up from the couch. “If he sees you here he’ll—”

“Shh,” Specter placed a comforting hand on Cagney’s cheek. “Shh, don’t worry. I’ll go. Do you still have the number of the Phantom Express?”

Cagney nodded.

“Good. If you ever need any help or if you need somewhere to go, just call us and we’ll get you out of here as soon as possible. And promise me, if you see a chance to escape just take it. Okay?”

“I will,” Cagney nodded.

Specter smiled kindly at Cagney and gave his petals one last stroke. He turned and headed towards the door leaving the flower standing by himself in the middle of the living room. Cagney wrapped his vine arms around himself and bit his bottom lip, his mind racing with a difficult decision to make. Finally he looked up in time to see Specter going through the locked door. 

“Spec?” Cagney called out.

Specter’s head poked in through the door and gave Cagney a curious look. Cagney walked over to the ghost, took Specter’s face in his leaf hands and kissed the ghost’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Specter was frozen stiff after the kiss and he remained like that for a few minutes before relaxing and letting a huge grin appear on his face. “I-it was nothing…”

For the first time that day Cagney smiled and he stifled a giggle at Specter’s face.

Specter shook himself and opened the door. “I should go. Be safe Cagney…please.”

Cagney nodded. “I’ll try…”

Specter gave Cagney one last look of love before slipping out of the door and into the hallway. Cagney inhaled sharply and once again wrapped his vine leaves around himself. There was nothing else he could do except wait for Nathan to come in and his never ending fear will start up once again.

 

* * *

 

 

Just a few miles away a black car drove around a corner and was driving down the street towards the apartment with a large oak tree at the wheel and another oak tree sitting at the passenger’s seat.

“That was some swell work you did, boss!” The driver praised.

“Yeah, it sure was!” The other oak tree nodded furiously. “The boss was sure pleased with the results! You did good!”

Nathan puffed on his cigar as he gazed out the window with a bored expression on his face. “Flattery’s gonna get you nowhere, ya’ bozos. Hurry up and drive. I’ve got a guy waiting for me.”

“Oh sure, sure!”

“Right away boss!”

Nathan rolled his eyes before resting his chin on his leaf hand, watching the buildings and city dwellers pass by. None of the city dwellers were of any interest to him until a blue one caught his eye. He sat up and looked back.

“Stop the car!”

The car screeched to a stop. Nathan watched as a blue ghost floated down the street with the same stupid grin on his face. The nightshade broke out into his very own grin and he took the cigar out of his mouth. “Boys, follow that little ghost. I’ve got some unfinished business with him…”

Specter floated down the street but he wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going. He was still feeling lightheaded with the memory of Cagney kissing him still replaying in his mind. Specter touched the cheek of the kiss and grinned once again. Then something made him pause. He had a sudden feeling that something just wasn’t right.

Looking over his shoulder he noticed a black car following him and he quickened his pace. The car sped up and Specter turned a corner. The car followed him and now Specter was getting nervous. He immediately flew through the streets and zig-zagged among the cars, trying to get away. Eventually he reached the outskirts of the city and glided to a stop. There was the railway right in front of him. If he could just follow it back to the station, then he’ll be able to possibly find the Phantom Express and he’ll be home free.

“Hey!”

A familiar yet hateful voice caused Specter to freeze. The ghost slowly turned around and came face to face with the purple nightshade flower. Nathan narrowed his eyes.

“You…”

Specter merely glared back. “Yeah, little old me.”

Nathan flicked his cigar to the ground and crushed it underneath his leaf-foot before going over to Specter and glaring down at the ghost. “We’ve got some unfinished business between the two of us.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You’ve got some nerve thinking you can waltz in and flirt around with Cagney. Well that ain’t gonna happen. He’s mine, you hear me?”

“And what makes you think he belongs to you?” Specter asked trying to keep his anger under control.

Nathan smirked. “You’ve seen how Cagney’s like. Fine body and he’s good between the sheets. You just wish you were me, but you aren’t.”

Specter clenched a fist. “You’re right…I’m nothing like you, and that’s good…in fact it’s great.”

Nathan blinked. “Huh?”

“Why would I want to be a scumbag who thinks he can beat up the guy he claims he loves?” Specter snorted. “I’m nothing like you, Nathan. I’m not someone who thinks he’s so tough and powerful while beating up others who can’t defend himself. You’re nothing but a coward, plain and simple.”  

Specter turned around and started to float off. “Are we done now? I gotta get going.”

“Oh…we’re not finished yet…”

Specter suddenly felt his shoulder being grabbed and soon he found himself facing Nathan. Nathan doubled up a fist and threw a punch. Specter yanked himself free and managed to dodge the punch which was mere inches away from his face. Nathan swung again but Specter dodged again. Nathan punched for a third time but this time Specter was ready. The ghost grabbed the nightshade’s arm and twisted it around to his back.

“You think you’re tough shit, Nightshade,” the ghost hissed, “but you’re nothing but a spineless pill who enjoys beating up others to prove you’re a big shot. It’s not the same trying to beat up someone who can fight back, huh?”

Nathan suddenly lowered his head and he began to shake. Specter was surprised but also felt a little pleased. He had managed to make the bastard cry. However as he listened closer, his face turned into confusion. Nathan wasn’t crying…he was laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

Nathan lifted his head and a cruel grin was on his face. “You think I have to prove that I’m a bigshot? Well you have no idea how wrong you are…”

Nathan suddenly jabbed his free elbow against Specter’s stomach and the ghost lost his grip. The nightshade whirled around and grabbed Specter by the throat, squeezing tightly. Specter desperately clawed at the leaves around his throat but it was to no avail. He began to gasp and choke as Nathan forced him down to the ground. Finally the flower released the ghost and Specter gasped for air. Nathan watched for a minute before dealing out a kick against Specter’s side.  

Specter doubled over and collapsed to the ground. Once again Nathan was on top of him and the nightshade placed both leaf hands around Specter’s throat and chuckled.

“Just as I suspected…you’re no match for me. Might as well get rid of the competition, eh?”

Specter gasped and struggled but Nathan merely squeezed tighter. Specter’s fighting began to grow weaker and his breath was becoming shallower.

So this was it. He was going to die. Was that even possible? And what about Cagney? What will happen to Cagney now?

The noise in the background began to grow faint and Specter saw a bright light shining towards him. Funny how it sounded just like a train whistle.  

That was one of the last thoughts Specter had in his mind as he slipped into blackness along with the image of the carnation flower Specter had fallen in love with and vowed to protect.

_I’m sorry, Cagney…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you guys for reading, giving kudos and commenting! Gives me a lot of inspiration to continue on the fanfic! ^^
> 
> Please note that the next chapter of this fanfic might take a bit longer since I will be working on a commission someone asked me to do. Luckily I know exactly what will happen in the next chapter so once I’m done with the commission, I’ll get right to work on the next chapter. ^^
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	11. A Deal is Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the next chapter! Sorry it took so long. School has been taking most of my time.

**CH 11: A Deal is Done**

 

“Is he going to be all right?”

“I’m sure he’s gonna be fine. He’s a tough ghost.”

“Yeah, tough ghost.”

Those were some of the words Specter was barely able to hear in his head. The voices seemed so far away. A bad pain began to throb in his head and he gave a groan.

“I think he’s waking up!”

Now the voice seemed to be closer. Specter slowly opened his eye and immediately closed it due to the bright light shining down.

“Specs?” He could hear a familiar voice. “Specs, c’mon…wake up.”

Once again Specter slowly opened his eyes and blinked rapidly. He was staring up at T-bone and the Blaze Brothers who were looking down at him with great concern. Specter groaned and rubbed his eye.

“Ughh…what happened?”

“Hey, hey!” One of the Blaze Brothers laughed. “He’s awake!”

“Awake!” The other one cheered.

Specter lifted his head and slowly turned his head to look around. He was in the caboose and was in his bed with the covers pulled up to his chin. The ghost tried to sit up but was immediately gently pushed down by T-bone.

“Don’t strain yourself, Specs.” The skeleton instructed. “You’ve been beaten up really badly.”

“I’m fine,” Specter grumbled but as he said this he felt lightheaded and dizzy and collapsed back on the bed. He rubbed his head. “Can someone tell me what happened?”

“Head of Train saw you being beaten up by that nightshade flower,” T-bone said, “so he went off the rail and managed to scare him off while we brought you back here.”

“What?!” Specter stared at them. “I couldn’t even beat that bastard?” He groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Uugh! Why couldn’t I beat him?”

“Because you’re a small and shrimpy twit,” One of the Blaze Brothers remarked much to the amusement of the other brother.  

“The real question is,” T-bone immediately frowned, “is what the heck was going on with you and that nightshade flower?”

“Nothing was going on!” Specter defended himself. “He just followed me and started shit. I didn’t do anything.”

T-bone said nothing but raised a brow and continued on staring at Specter. Specter stared at him for a few more minutes before looking away in discomfort. T-bone looked at Specter for a few more minutes before turning towards the Blaze Brothers. “Hey, you guys get back to your stations.”

“Aw, c’mon, T…why can’t we—”

“Now!”

The Blaze Brothers stared at T-bone in disbelief before slithering off with scowls.

“Okay, okay, fine. No need to get all snippy.”

“Snippy…”

T-bone watched as the Blaze Brothers slithered out before turning his attention to Specter. It was a while before the skeleton spoke again. “And just what were you doing in this little vacation of yours?”

“Umm…”

“Did it have anything to do with this Cagney guy?”

“No!” Specter squirmed with uneasiness at T-bone’s expression. The same expression he always used when he suspected Specter was lying. “I was just trying to find out more about him and this Nathan guy. T-bone, I was right! That Nathan guy is hurting Cagney! Okay, okay, I admit I went over to their apartment but—”

T-bone held up a hand. “Wait, wait, wait…why did you go over to their apartment?

“Uhh…”

“Please don’t tell me you were going to confront him!”

Specter’s silence gave T-bone the answer he was dreading. The skeleton buried his face in his hands. “Oh God, Specs! You can’t do that! You can’t just go off playing hero!”

“I wasn’t trying to play a hero!” Specter snapped.

“Then what do you call going to an apartment where a guy is just waiting to tear you apart?”

“It was for Cagney…”

T-bone pinched the bridge of his nose. “Specs…let the police handle it. They’ll get that guy and save Cagney. We’re just railway workers.”

“Getting the police won’t work!” Specter argued. “Nathan has eyes all over the place! He’s a sly son of a bitch and he’s just going to get away with it. We gotta deal with him now.”

"Specter, look what he did to you!” T-Bone exclaimed, gesturing towards Specter's neck. "He almost killed you, and you’re already dead!"

"But we could work together this time! I wouldn’t be alone," Specter insisted.

“The answer is still no.”

“But why?! Why won’t you help me?”

“Because you’re letting this idea about saving Cagney control you!” T-bone finally snapped. “You’re disregarding your own safety and trying to go against something bigger than you, literally and figuratively! Look, I know Cagney is your pal and all, but you can’t go off and try to save him in your state. That nightshade is stronger and a more experienced fighter than you. If you try to confront him again, we might not be nearby to save you again.”

T-bone waited for Specter to say something but he didn’t .The ghost merely stared at the skeleton before looking away and glaring out the window with pure resentment. Resentment against T-bone for not seeming to care about what was going on, resentment against Nathan for causing all this suffering, but most of all resentment against the fact that T-bone had a point. T-bone softened at Specter’s expression.

“Look Spec, that guy will get what’s coming to him. We just need to wait for an opportunity and then take action. But right now you need rest.”

Specter did not say anything but he settled down in his bed and pulled the covers over his head.

“I’ll get you something to eat later,” T-bone went on.

“Not hungry…” Specter grumbled.

“All right then. Just get some sleep now.”

Specter grunted as he heard the door close. Feeling quite exhausted, Specter closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. It seemed like he had only dozed off for a minute before the blowing whistle awoke him.

“Last stop! Everyone off!”

Still a bit dazed from the sleep, Specter sat up and looked out the window to see where they were. It was at that moment he had one last idea. One final chance for Cagney’s freedom.

 

* * *

 

 

The Devil hummed to himself as he counted out the money won from the casino. He was pleased. So far it had been a very good day for him. Business was booming, the casino was getting more and more customers, and thanks to his debt-collectors he had gotten five souls from some debtors who stupidly believed they could get out of their deal. Hah! Idiots.

After counting up the money, the devil leaned back against his throne and puffed on his cigar, the screams of the damned caused his good mood to heighten. Yes, nothing could damper his mood. There was a knock at the door.

“Enter!”

The doors opened and in walked King Dice. “Hey there, boss. You look like you’re in a good mood.”

“More than good, Dice,” The Devil grinned as he chomped on his cigar. “Business is booming, I’ve been getting more contracts, it couldn’t be any better!”

“Well that’s great,” King Dice pointed at the door, “for you’ve got a visitor.”

“Oh?” The Devil raised a brow.

“Yeah, said it was urgent and he needs to see you right away.”

“Hmm, interesting…” The Devil clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. “That guy must be really brave or really stupid. Fine, bring him in.”

King Dice nodded and went out to the hallway. A few minutes later, a small blue ghost floated into the Devil’s throne room and the Devil’s smile grew bigger.

“Well, well, haven’t seen you for a long time Blind Specter. How’s the Phantom Express?”

Specter stared up at the large towering figure of the devil and swallowed. “They’re…good.”

“Do they even know that you’re here?”

“N-not exactly…”

The Devil suddenly leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at the nervous ghost. “So why are you here?”

Specter opened his mouth but no words came out. He merely stared up at the devil and couldn’t come up with any words.

“Hurry up!” The Devil snapped. “Don’t waste my time!”

“I-I…” Specter clenched his fists. “I’m here to make a request!”

The Devil blinked. Now this was getting interesting. “What kind of request?”

Specter hesitated before slowly going into the story. He told the Devil about Cagney and about Nathan. He told him about Nathan’s treatment of Cagney and how he tried to fight the nightshade but to no avail. Once Specter got to the end of his story, he looked up at the Devil to see his expression. There was no expression. In fact the Devil looked absolutely bored.

“So?” He shrugged. “What do you want me to do?”

“Like I said, I’m asking for a request.”

“You said that before, but never said what kind of request.”

Specter took a deep breath. “You’re the Devil…you can use your powers for anything, right?”

“Sure, sure,” The Devil scowled. “Get to the point.”

“Well…you can use your powers to get Cagney away from Nathan. Get rid of Nathan and free Cagney from his control.”

Both ghost and devil stared at each other.

Finally the Devil’s face broke into a huge grin. “Well…I think I might be able to do that…but it won’t be free.”

“I’ll pay you any amount,” Specter insisted. “I can pay about 50 cents or even a dollar!”

“Not that kind of payment, wise ass.” The Devil snorted. “I have another payment in mind.”

“Name it.”

“Your soul.”

Specter froze in horror. “W-what?”

“You’re a bold guy,” The Devil smirked. “I don’t have anything like that in my collection. Your soul will be a great addition to my collection.” He snapped his fingers and a contract and pen appeared in front of Specter.

“Gee,” Specter rubbed the back of his head. “I…I don’t know…”

“Well, it’s either you sign over your soul or that flower pal of yours gets beaten until he’s a bloody pulp.” The Devil shrugged. “Your choice.”

Specter stared at the Devil and then at the contract floating in front of him. He had never expected this to happen. He can’t sign over his soul! He can’t imagine being imprisoned to someone…especially not the devil himself. However the words of the Devil haunted his mind.

Sign the contract or else Cagney will continue to suffer.

Inhaling, Specter took the pen and signed on the dotted line. When he was done, the contract floated over to the devil and he grabbed it. He grinned wickedly at the ghost.

“Your soul is mine now…don’t even think about running away from this debt or else I will have to drag you here myself.”

“I won’t…” Specter growled.

“Good. Now get out.”

Specter didn’t have to be told twice. He flew out of the throne room and rounded a corner of the hall. Once away from the Devil’s throne room, he stopped and leaned back against the wall, breathing rapidly as the realization of what he had just done fell on him.

What will happen to him now? What will the other members of the Phantom Express say if they ever found out? And what about Cagney? Will he ever see him again?

Sinking down to the ground, Specter buried his face in his hands as despair overcame him. He had saved Cagney’s life and possibly had given him a chance for freedom from Nathan…and now he himself is a prisoner to the Devil’s debt.

“What have I’ve done?”


	12. Escape

**CH 12: Escape**

 

The week passed by calmly for Cagney. He had managed to get through it without making Nathan angry and stayed out of his way unless Nathan called him over for something or whenever he wanted to have a bit of fun in the bedroom and it was there that Cagney realized something. He had caught himself imagining Specter instead of Nathan during those stints. He imagined the roughness as Specter’s gentle touches, imagined hearing his loving soft voice.

The more he thought about it the more he became convinced that Specter was right. He had to get out of this relationship with Nathan. It just wasn’t healthy anymore. However he didn’t want to experience another beating like he did the last time he suggested leaving. He just had to find a way to get away but so far no opportunity came up.

Until one day when Nathan was preparing to leave for work. He was a bit late than usual and was rushing around the apartment gathering some stuff he needed. Of course he blamed Cagney.

“Couldn’t take the time to look at the damn clock!” He growled as he rushed to and from the bedroom. “If you would have just paid more attention to the time, I wouldn’t be in this situation! How many times do I have to tell you?!”

Cagney merely looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry…it won’t happen again.”

“It better not…”

Cagney cringed at Nathan’s tone of voice. It was the same tone he had always used whenever Cagney did something wrong and the consequences were going to be very severe. He stiffened when Nathan stood up and looked over at Cagney. “Hey Cag, come over here for a minute.”

Cagney felt his throat go dry as he slowly walked towards Nathan. Once he was near him, Nathan lifted his leaf hand. Cagney flinched and waited for a blow, but it didn’t come. Instead Nathan started stroking Cagney’s petals gently.

“Look Cag,” Nathan said softly, “I just want to say sorry for everything I did these past few days. No more yelling or jealousy. Everything is going to change.”

Cagney merely stared at him, feeling uncertain about this apology. He has heard this before and yet nothing has changed. Every time he was hopeful that Nathan would change…but was this the real thing?

Finally Nathan had gathered everything he needed and kissed Cagney goodbye. “I’ll be back in half an hour. I’ll see you later, babe.”

Nathan then walked out the door and slammed shut. Cagney waited to hear the lock, but a minute passed and there was no lock. The flower blinked in amazement. Had Nathan forgotten to lock the door? He slowly crept towards the door, breathing heavily with fear. This must be a trick. There is no way Nathan would forget to lock the door. He laid his leaf hand on the door handle and slowly turned it which resulted in the door opening a small crack.

Cagney felt a leap of amazement at this but it was replaced by a grim thought. Maybe Nathan left it open so that one of his friends could come over and watch over him. So Cagney walked back to the living room area and sat on the couch to wait for his minder. A couple of minutes passed and nobody had come. Still Cagney sat on the couch, his leaf hands resting on his knees and clenching in nerves.

It has got to be a trap. Nathan is just standing around the corner waiting to see if he will step out of the apartment. So he waited for another five more minutes. Still no one. Cagney bit his bottom lip and thought about Nathan’s apology. Things will change…he will change…right? He stood up and stared at the door and only one thought came to his mind.

_It’s now. I’ve got to go now._

Cagney rushed into the bedroom and pulled out a duffle bag from beneath the bed, packing up several of his possessions and a small jar of change he had saved up. Once he was done he closed it and walked right out of the apartment. In the hallway Cagney stopped suddenly. What is he doing? Nathan was going to kill him for being out. He doesn’t know where to go or if anyone will let him stay with them.

The carnation looked back at the apartment and a strong urge to go back inside struggled inside him. As if some special force knew what he was thinking, the image of Specter’s huge smile and loving expression appeared in his mind along with the memory of his laugh and jokes. It was then Cagney knew what he must do. He turned away from the apartment and walked down stairs without a look back.

The fear began to rise as Cagney went down the stairs. He was so sure that one of Nathan’s friends would be coming upstairs and stop him. He thought about Nathan coming home early and catching him trying to escape. Suddenly the sound of someone coming up the stairs made him freeze in terror. This was it. He was caught. He’s going to be dragged back and beaten…or worse. The steps grew louder and louder. Cagney closed his eyes tightly and waited for the worse.

The worse never came.

Cagney opened his eyes just in time to spot an elderly mouse walk past him, not even bothering to take a second look at him. Reaching her floor the mouse went over to one of the apartment doors and went inside. Cagney breathed a sigh of relief. He was still safe but he had to hurry.

Once outside the apartment building the honks of cars on the roads caused another horrible thought. What if Nathan was in one of those cars and had just spotted him? Cagney immediately went over to the corner and hailed a taxi.

“Where to?” The driver asked once the carnation got in.

“Train station,” Cagney answered briefly. “And I’m in a bit of a hurry, so would it be possible to get there as soon as possible?”

“Sure thing,” The driver nodded. As he drove on he couldn’t help but glance at the carnation through the rearview mirror. The carnation was shaking even though it was a warm day and every time a car drove past them he ducked down.

“You okay…bud?”

Cagney scowled as the cabdriver chucked at his little joke. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine….”

After what seemed like forever the cabdriver came to a stop. “Here ya’ go. Train station.”

“Thanks,” Cagney handed the cabdriver the appropriate amount of cash. “Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem,” The cabdriver nodded. “Have a nice train ride.”

After getting out of the cab, Cagney rushed over to the ticket stand and shoved some money through the slot. “One ticket for the Phantom Express, please.”

“What is your destination?” The ticket handler asked.

“I…I don’t know. Anywhere away from here I guess.”

The ticket handler couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “Not cut out for city life, huh?”

“Mmph,” Cagney shrugged as he took his ticket. Shouldering his duffle bag he walked over to the edge of the train platform. He looked both right and left for any sign of the Phantom Express coming. He was almost home free. Once he boards the train, he’ll be free from Nathan and from the city.

“Cagney?!”

The carnation froze in terror at the sound of a familiar voice. He slowly turned his head to spot a purple nightshade coming towards him.

_Oh no…no, no, no!_

Nathan stopped in front of the carnation and merely stared at him, confusion and suspicion on his face. “What’s going on here?”

“I…” Cagney’s mouth was dry. “I…”

“Oh never mind,” Nathan took Cagney’s arm and started to lead him away. “C’mon, we’re going home. I have no idea what’s gotten into you but—”

Cagney suddenly pulled himself away from Nathan. “No, Nathan. I can’t do it.”

Nathan raised a brow. “Can’t do what?”

“I…” Cagney swallowed. “I’m not going back home.”

There was a long period of silence. Nathan was frozen in place, his eyes wide with disbelief. Suddenly his eyes glared daggers at Cagney. “What?” He snarled. “Of course you’re coming back! You’re MY boyfriend!”

Cagney stared straight into Nathan’s eyes, glaring at the nightshade. “My feelings have changed, Nathan. I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore.”

Nathan lunged forward and grabbed Cagney by the throat. Cagney gasped and tried to pry Nathan’s leaf hands away from his throat.

“You’re never leaving me, Cagney!” Nathan snarled. “I cared for you, took care of you, now you want to leave?!”

“Nathan!” Cagney choked. “Get off of me! Please! AAH!” Cagney yelled in pain as Nathan slapped him across the face.

“You belong to me, Cagney! You hear me? You’re mine and you’re not leaving me! Not now, not ever!”

The carnation squeezed his eyes shut as Nathan raised his hand for another slap. He heard the whoosh but then it stopped suddenly. Cagney slowly opened his eyes. Nathan wasn’t looking at him anymore. Instead he was face to face with a blue eyeless ghost who was grabbing onto his wrist.

“S-Specs?” Cagney murmured.

The expression on Specter’s face was not the same carefree and happy one. Instead his face was one of pure rage. The ghost leaned closer towards Nathan and gave a terrifying growl. “Don’t…touch him…ever…AGAIN!”

 Hauling back, Specter dealt Nathan a hard punch to the face and Cagney felt air rush back into him. His vision was going dark and blurry and he collapsed to the ground.

“Cagney?” Specter’s voice sounded faint and far away. “Cagney!”

The floor beneath the carnation disappeared as he was lifted from the ground. He heard another voice say, “He’ll be okay. C’mon, grab his bag and let’s get out of here.”

He was suddenly moving and the last thing he heard before falling into blackness was Nathan’s screams of rage.

“I’ll never forgive you, Cagney! NEVER!”

 

* * *

 

 

The blackness slowly disappeared from view as new voices whispered above him. Cagney groaned in pain and confusion.

“Oh look he’s waking up!”

“Go get Specter. Tell him he’s coming through.”

The carnation’s vision became clear again and the first thing he saw was T-bone staring down at him.

“Well,” the skeleton snorted, “out of all the odds you pulled it through.”

“What happened?” Cagney groaned.

“Oh nothing much,” T-bone shrugged. “We managed to save you from that nightshade character. If I ever see that guy again, ugh, it’s going to be too soon.”

Cagney slowly sat up and held his head. “Ugh…”

“Careful kid,” T-bone warned. “You’ve been knocked up pretty badly. Take it slowly.”

Cagney looked around in confusion. He was not in a passenger car, but in a different car possibly the caboose. He was also in a bed with the covers pulled up to his chest. The door opened and there floated a familiar ghost.

“Cagney?”

Cagney stared at the ghost before smiling. “Hey Spec…”

Specter slowly floated towards the carnation and wrapped his arms around him. T-bone watched as the two embraced before coughing and heading towards the door. “I’ll leave you two alone. Don’t keep him up too late, Specter.”

Once he was gone, Specter grinned at Cagney. “You got out of there…”

“Yeah,” Cagney rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I did.”

“Wow…I never thought he would…”

“Huh?” Cagney blinked. “Who would what?”

“N-never mind,” Specter changed the subject. “What happened that made you decide to leave?”

Cagney sighed. “I don’t know…I guess I just got tired of it all. Tired of being scared, tired of being beaten around, and tired of being insulted. But I guess…I was tired of living a lie. So I just packed my stuff and left. Didn’t think he would find me at the train station.”

“Well he’ll never find you now,” Specter reassured as he took Cagney’s leaf hands. “You’re safe here with us and we’ll find you a place to live. You don’t have to go back to him ever again.”

“But where should I live?”

“Anywhere you want!” Specter waved a hand towards the windows. “You can live in Inkwell Isle Two or you can go back to Fleischer Fields! I’m sure the Root Pack would be more than happy to take you in!”

“And what about here?”

“What?”

“You said I could live anywhere I want. And I want to stay here. With you.”

Specter lifted his hand and placed it on Cagney’s cheek, guiding his face until he pressed his lips against the flower’s. Cagney wrapped a vine arm around Specter and pulled him in closer to deepen the kiss.

Breaking away for breath, Specter grinned. “Here is perfect.”

Cagney shivered as Specter’s hand slid down his back and around to his stomach. He stopped the ghost and bit his bottom lip. “N-no…I’m not…I’m not ready yet…”

Specter smiled. “That’s fine. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

The ghost laid down on the bed and Cagney curled up next to him, resting his forehead against Specter’s chest. Specter began to stroke Cagney’s petals making the carnation shiver and sigh with delight.

“I love you,” Specter whispered. “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you in the casino.”

Cagney entwined his hand with Specter’s and closed his eyes with a smile. “I love you too…”

Specter’s smile grew wider and he breathed in the sweet scent of the flower. The train was slowly moving through the tracks and he could hear nothing except the train’s wheels chugging along and Cagney’s soft breathing as he drifted off to sleep.  Yes this was pure heaven for Specter and there was nothing that could ruin this moment. That was the last thing he thought of before drifting off to sleep, all thoughts of deals and souls completely forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the story is not over yet. There is still more to come. ;)


	13. Loss

**CH 13: Loss**

 

Cagney spent the next few weeks traveling in the Phantom Express and going around all over Inkwell Isle. The first stop they made was Inkwell Isle One and he was able to get a chance to see familiar friends with Specter. Weepy sobbed with joy when he saw Cagney. Moe acted apathetic but Cagney knew he was glad to see him again while Psycarrot kept on patting his back as if proud of him for coming to visit.

Cagney was also able to revisit his old home, Fleischer Fields and was overwhelmed by so many memories of the place. Some good, some bad. Yes it was truly a memorable day for Cagney, revisiting his old home and encountering the Root Pack again. However he felt happier going back to the Phantom Express and being with Specter in the caboose area.

“Hey Cag?” Specter spoke one time during their nightly cuddles. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” Cagney opened one eye.

“Well…are you bored with all this?”

“All of what?”

“The areas we usually stop at. I mean sure, we visit a lot of places but usually it’s the same routine. First Inkwell Isle One, then Two, then Three, and then the Casino. It must be getting boring.”

“Not really,” Cagney smiled. “I mean, there has been a lot of stuff happening in the train that I don’t really get bored of the regular stops. It’s like…something new happens inside here.”

“Like when T-bone chased after the twins when they stole his conductor hat?” Specter cackled.

Cagney couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, that’s one.”

“Well, what I was meaning to say is…is there any place you want to visit? Like, you really, really, _REALLY_ want to visit.”

“Well…” Cagney drummed his leaf fingers. “There is one area I would love to see…but I don’t think—”

“Name it,” Specter said instantly, “and I will take you there myself.”

“Oh,” Cagney wilted a little bit. “You don’t have to do that.”

Specter smiled and kissed the flower’s forehead. “I want to.”

Cagney thought about it for a minute before reaching down for a magazine laying on the floor. Specter sat up as he watched Cagney flip through the pages before he stopped and pointed at a page. The page was a landscape image of a green forest filled with trees and flowers. The words on the page said, **_“Come visit Tyrus Gardens!”_**

“I’ve always dreamed about visiting that garden,” Cagney told Specter, “it is said to be the best garden there is in all of Inkwell.”

Specter grinned. “I think it sounds like a great place. Maybe we’ll be able to visit it sometime soon.”

Cagney smiled and nuzzled into Specter. “Hmm, I’d like that.”

The ghost hugged the flower closer to him as Cagney yawned. “Getting tired?”

“A little bit…”

“Well you go right to sleep. It’s getting late after all.”

“Okay,” Cagney closed his eyes. “G’night Specs…love you…”

Specter smiled. “Love you too, Cag.”

 

* * *

 

 

The dawn sun peeked over the mountains of Inkwell Isle bright and early and not a cloud in the sky. This suited T-bone fine. Despite being a skeleton, he did enjoy watching the sun rise over the horizon while sipping his usual morning coffee. Which he was about to do at the moment. The skeleton stepped out of the caboose car and leaned against the railing as he watched the sun rise above the mountains. He took a sip of his coffee which he instantly spat out in disgust.

What was in this?!

T-bone looked closer and noticed several lumps floating in the coffee.

“Morning, T-bone!”

“Morning!”

T-bone glanced up to see the Blaze Brothers grinning down at him.

“Morning,” T-bone raised his coffee cup towards them. “Say, you wouldn’t know who made this coffee, right?”

“Sure do!” One of the brothers grinned. “It was us!”

“Yeah! Us!”

“Oh?” T-bone had a bad feeling about this. “And…what did you put in it?”

“Can’t tell you, T! Made it with our very own recipe. Top secret, you know?”

“Yeah, top secret.”

Oh, so that was it then.

“Where’s Spec’s?” One of the Blaze Brothers asked. “Still asleep?”

“Seems that way,” T-bone nodded. “Heard him still sleeping upstairs along with Cagney.”

“Can we wake them up?”

“Absolutely not.” T-bone snorted. “You two are going to go back to your posts and do your duties. I’ll wake Specter if he sleeps in too late. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the Blaze Brothers slithered away, grumbling. “We heard ya’.”

T-bone waited until the brothers were out of sight before dumping out the rest of the coffee. Suddenly the train came to a sudden halt which nearly toppled the skeleton over.

“What the—?!”

T-bone straightened his conductor’s hat and stormed into the railway cars. “All right! What’s the hold up?!”

He found the Blaze Brothers hidden in one of the railway cars and they looked absolutely shaken.

“Hey!” T-bone snapped. “Why did we stop? Did you two mess up with something again?”

“You don’t want to go out there, T…” One of them whispered in fear.  

T-bone raised a brow, his annoyance switched into concern. He had never seen the Blaze Brothers this terrified. Something must be really wrong. The skeleton got off the train and went to the head of the train.

“Hey Head, what’s going—”

He froze when he saw the expression on the train’s face. His usual grinning mouth was turned down in a grimace of fear and his eyes were wide with terror. T-bone looked over to what he was staring at and a hand of fear gripped him.

Standing before them was the familiar black furred devil with eyes narrowed in malicious glee while behind him the feared King Dice was standing silently with a smug smile on his face.       

“Gentlemen,” The Devil spoke in a calm voice. “It’s been awhile since we last spoke…”

 

* * *

 

 

Inside the caboose, Specter and Cagney awoke when the train had skidded to a sudden stop causing them to fall out of their bed.

“Oof!” Specter grunted as Cagney landed on top of him.

“Sorry!” Cagney yelped.

“It’s fine,” Specter sat up and frowned. “Something must be up with Head.” With a sigh he floated up in the air. “Guess I better go see what’s going on…”

“Should I come?” Cagney asked.

“Nah, you go back to sleep.” Specter smiled. “It’s probably for train employees.”

“But you said you’re not an employee.”

“True, doesn’t mean I can’t eavesdrop and figure out what’s going on.”

“Well,” Cagney smiled. “I guess not.”

“And as long as we’re up, I’ll see if I can snatch us some breakfast as well.”

“Sounds great!”

Specter gave Cagney a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

The ghost floated through the caboose door and headed towards the front of the train. He blinked when he came upon the Blaze Brothers cowering in the car. Odd, he had never seen them this terrified.

“Hey guys…what’s going on?”

“Get back to the caboose, Specter! It’s too dangerous for you to be out here!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“It’s the Devil and that lackey of his, King Dice! They’re the ones who stopped the train!”

The Devil?  Specter froze in horror as the words of the Devil rose in his mind.

“Don’t even think about running away from this debt or else I will have to drag you here myself.”

Was he here to do that now? And where was T-bone? Ignoring the cries of the Blaze Brothers for him to come back, Specter rushed over to the front of the train. Getting to the front of the train he floated towards Head’s big wheels and hid behind, peeking his head out to watch the scenario before him. T-bone was standing tall in front of the Devil and had his fists on his hips.

“Just what’s the meaning of this, Devil?” The skeleton asked in a calm voice.

Specter felt a wave of pride come over him. He had no idea how T-bone could remain so calm and unafraid in front of the Devil but his admiration for the skeleton heightened.

“I’m here to finish a little bit of business one of your crew members have with me,” The Devil answered simply.

“What business?” T-bone snorted. “There is no business. We’ve already signed that lousy contract of yours and we’re paying it by bringing souls to your casino.”

“True,” The Devil grinned, “however there is one who hadn’t signed until now. Where’s that blind ghost?”

“Specter?” T-bone sounded confused. “Why would you want him? He’s a good kid. He wouldn’t—”

“Wouldn’t sign one of my contracts?” The Devil laughed. “Oh how wrong you are! Dice, the contract if you will.”

King Dice stepped forward and took out a scroll from his suit pocket. He unfurled it and handed it over to T-bone.

“There’s all the proof you need. You can see he signed it with his own signature and everything. Now we’ll just take him back to our place and we’ll—”

T-bone looked up from the contract and Specter was shocked to see pure hatred on his face. “Over my body, you two! I have no idea what you guys did to him, but he’s not going with you!”

The Devil sighed sadly. “Oh, I feel sorry for you…well actually…”

There was a burst of light and T-bone was thrown back, landing hard against the Head of the Train.  The Devil gave an evil grin. “No I’m not.”

He casually walked over to the skeleton and placed a foot on T-bone’s skull. “Now I’m asking you one more time…where’s that blind ghost?”

“F-forget it!” T-bone coughed. “You ain’t getting the kid’s soul!”

“I see…well if I can’t take his soul…” The Devil suddenly pressed his foot against T-bone’s skull harder and T-bone began to choke in pain. “Guess I’ll have to take yours.”

“NO! WAIT!”

The Devil looked up to see Specter rushing towards him. Specter stopped and glared up at the Devil. “Leave him alone! It’s me you want!”

“Spec!” T-bone gasped. “Get away from here!”

The Devil chuckled. “Like I said, you’ve got a lot of spunk for a shrimp.” He then bared his teeth in a twisted grin of delight. “You’ll make a fine addition to my little collection of souls. Dice, take him.”

Specter yelped as King Dice’s huge hand grabbed him and lifted him up. The dice gave his own monstrous grin as he held up Specter up to his face. “You’re going to enjoy the Devil’s place, kid. It’s the hottest place in town…literally!”

Specter glared straight into the Dice’s eyes and tried so hard not to show any hint of fear. It wasn’t easy when you were really terrified out of your mind.

“Specter?”

Specter gasped at the sound of a familiar voice. “Cagney! Cagney, get back in the train!”

The carnation stepped down from the railway car and stared at the scene in front of him. “W-what’s going on?”

“Cagney huh?” The Devil turned his attention to the flower. “So you’re the guy this kid sold his soul for?”

“What?” Cagney’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, sold—”

“Oh he never told you?” The Devil threw back his head and laughed. “That’s priceless! I heard the entire story, kid. You were being pummeled by your old fling and in order to save your precious life, this guy sold his whole soul to me so that you can escape.”

Cagney took a step back as if he had been struck. He stared at the Devil and then up toward Specter. “Spec…is…is this true?”

Specter closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “I-I’m sorry Cagney…I did it.”

“B-but…selling your soul?! W-why—”

“I did it to save your life!” Specter cried out. “I didn’t know what else to do! If I hadn’t…you would have died! I love you too much to let you be killed by that bastard!”

“Aw,” The Devil smirked, “young love…touching, but idiotic. All this talk is making me bored. Now if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way.”

“No!” T-bone desperately began to crawl towards King Dice. “You can’t take him! He’s—”

A swift kick to the head from Dice knocked the skeleton to the ground.

“Haven’t you learned nothing?” The Devil snorted as he glared down at the crumpled skeleton. “I’m the Devil…you can’t fight against me and expect to win. Now if you don’t mind—”

“STOP!”

The Devil glared down at the carnation who had yelled. “Oh what is it now?!”

“I…” Cagney faltered for a bit before standing up straight. “I’ll make a trade.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…you let Specter remain here in the Phantom Express…and I’ll…I’ll take his place.”

“What?!” Specter gasped. “Cagney no!”

“Shut up!” Dice snapped, giving Specter a hard shake.

“Hmm,” The Devil leaned closer to Cagney, eyeing him with interest. “You’re saying that you’re willing to give up your newfound freedom, your very own soul…all because of him?”

“That…” Cagney swallowed. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Why?”

“Like you said…young love…”

“Hmm,” The Devil rubbed his chin and thought it over. Finally with a snap of his fingers a contract and a quill pen appeared in front of Cagney. “Very well then. He’ll stay…but you come with me.”

“Cagney, don’t do this!” Specter cried in desperation. “Don’t worry about me! I can handle it!”

Cagney froze at this sentence. He had said that before and what had Specter said to that?

“No…you can’t…”

“CAGNEY!”

Without another moment of hesitation, Cagney grabbed the quill pen and signed right on the dotted line. Once he was finished, the Devil snapped his fingers again and the contract disappeared. “Dice, let the ghost go. Take the flower.”

Specter wriggled out of Dice’s grasp and flew towards Cagney, throwing his arms around the flower and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Cagney, you idiot!” He sobbed. “You…idiot! Why…why did you do this?!”

“Same reason as you,” Cagney tried to keep his tears at bay as he hugged the ghost. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled away from Specter’s embrace and he desperately tried to hold on longer.

“No, please!” Specter cried as he tried to hold onto Cagney’s leaf hands. “Don’t take him away!”

“The time to say goodbye is over, kid.” Devil snorted as he jabbed his trident on the ground. “We’re on a tight schedule.”

A large black portal opened up and the Devil leapt in.

“CAGNEY!”

Cagney glanced up to see T-bone holding Specter back as the ghost tried to get to King Dice.

“Cagney!” Specter was yelling. “No! Please, don’t do this! I can’t lose you like this!”

A single tear finally escaped Cagney’s eye and rolled down his cheek. He stared straight at the ghost and uttered a single sentence.

“I love you.”

That was the last thing Specter heard before King Dice leapt into the portal taking Cagney along with him and the portal disappeared completely.

“CAGNEY!” Specter pulled himself away from T-bone and tried to glide down the railway tracks heading for the casino. “Cagney! I’ll save you again! I’ll—AAAGH!”

It was like an invisible chain had grabbed onto his wrists and he was pulled back to the Head of the Train. After catching his breath, Specter tried to glide away once more but again he was pulled back.

“Spec,” T-bone’s voice was low and hoarse. “Stop…”

“What’s going on, T-bone?” Specter’s voice was rising in panic. “Why can’t I leave the train?!”

“It was part of the deal…you are now an employee of the Devil working in the Phantom Express…and now you have to stay in the train…forever.”

“What?” Specter stared at T-bone with despair. “So…I can’t…I can’t—”

“I’m sorry Spec…”

There was a period of silence as Specter stared at the skeleton. Finally the blind ghost clenched his fists together and pounded them on the ground, screams and sobs erupting from deep inside him. Stories have been told for years about the ghastly noises coming from the train that took souls to the devil. Now the noises coming from the train was more terrible and more heart wrenching than ever before and one would be surprised to know it came from a ghost grieving over the loss of his one love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....you guys probably hate me for this now.  
>  *goes off to hide*


	14. Reminiscence and Hell

**CH 14: Reminiscence and Hell**

 

Later that day the Phantom Express slowly came into the Devil’s Casino station and came to a stop, the doors opening to let the passengers out.

“Last stop,” T-bone called out, but his voice sounded slow and tired, “Devil’s Casino. Everyone out.”

The passengers began to file out of the train, chatting with one another as if nothing was wrong. Of course to them nothing was wrong but it couldn’t be said about the Phantom Express.

One of the Blaze Brothers came slithering towards him. “T, he’s doing it again.”

“What?”

“Yeah…I checked in on him and he’s still doing it.”

T-bone sighed. “After I’ve already told him…”

The skeleton made his way to the back of the train and into the caboose. There was nobody there but he waited. A few seconds later, a blue ghost was thrown into the caboose and slammed against the bed.

“Ow!” The ghost groaned, rubbing his head. “C’mon, why won’t it work?!”

Grunting, the ghost rose from the floor and flew out the window. There was another moment of silence before the ghost was thrown through the window and slammed against the bed with a painful yelp.

“Specter?”

Specter glanced up at the skeleton. “T-bone I think I might have gotten farther from the train this time!”

“Spec…”

“I mean sure, I’m always thrown back but if I keep going, maybe I can break through!”

“Spec…”

“I think I’ve got this, T-bone! Just a few more tries and maybe I will—”

“Specter!” T-bone rushed over and grabbed the ghost’s shoulders. “Specter, stop! You’re just going to hurt yourself!”

“I don’t care!” Specter snapped. “I need to get out of here and rescue Cagney!”

“There’s nothing you can do anymore, Spec. The Devil already has him and you can’t go against the Devil.”

“I went against Nathan.”

“That’s completely different! You don’t know how the Devil works!”

“Well neither do you!”

T-bone was silent for a good long minute as he stared at the ghost. Specter remained floating in place, staring back at the skeleton and clenching his fist trying not to look away. Finally the skeleton sighed.

“Look Spec…just calm down—”

“Calm down?!” Specter’s voice was filled with disbelief. “How can I calm down?! Cagney could be getting tortured right now and you’re telling me to calm down? It’s like you don’t even care about Cagney!”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m already hurting!” Specter’s voice cracked with emotion. “Cagney was finally free and now because of me he’s trapped with the Devil! But you don’t care, do you?! You just think I’m stupid and an idiot for exchanging my soul to save Cagney! Well what do you know about that? You don’t get it! What do you know about what I’m going through?!”

Specter immediately whirled around and folded his arms, glaring down at the floor as he tried to keep tears of frustration and rage from spilling.

“Are you done?” T-bone asked.

Specter bit his bottom lip. He didn’t want to be done. There were so many emotions raging inside him. He was angry, he was guilt-ridden, but most of all…he was exhausted. It was the same kind of exhaustion after so much has happened in a brief moment of time. After being silent for a couple of minutes, Specter finally nodded.

With an exhausted groan, the ghost floated over to his bed and crawled in, pulling the blankets over his head.

“Spec, I—”

“Just leave me alone,” Specter growled as he shut his eyes tightly.

There was another moment of silence until T-bone walked over to  Specter’s bed and sat at the end of it. “Ever heard of someone named Janelle?”

Specter slowly uncovered one of his eyes to stare at T-bone. “Who the heck is Janelle?”

He was surprised to see T-bone smiling. “She was one of the prettiest girls in town, but she wasn’t like all the other soft-spoken girls. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself and let others know what she thinks of them whether it was good or bad. That never made her popular with the other girls, but to one fellow, she was amazing.

“This young man tried to get her attention but she never paid any much thought to him. He was too shy to tell the truth to her, so he sent her anonymous flowers but it made her think they were from someone else. He tried displaying feats of courage, but failed and was laughed at by her. But still he kept on hoping that one day she will notice him and they’ll eventually be together.”

T-bone’s demeanor suddenly changed from sentimental to grim. “Then one day…the Devil came to the town. Apparently Janelle had made a deal with him but ran off before he could obtain her soul. He was not happy at being cheated and he swore to get a soul no matter what. Janelle was terrified of her fate and of the Devil. Her secret admirer saw her pain and her fear and he knew he couldn’t allow her to suffer. So out of love for her…he did the only thing he could do. He offered his own soul in exchange for Janelle’s freedom.”

“Like me…” Specter whispered in amazement.

T-bone nodded. “Well the Devil didn’t care which soul he got. As long as it was a soul, he’ll take it. The man was happy that Janelle would be spared and thought Janelle would finally see how much he loved her.”

“And did she?”

“Well…she found out what happened and she was relieved. The man thought she would finally realize his love for her…but he found out later that she moved away with another man as soon as she found out she was out of debt with the devil. It was then he realized that Janelle had never loved him and now because of his desperation to prove his love…he’s trapped working in the Devil’s Phantom Express as a conductor.”

Specter’s eyes widened at this. “Wait…you…is that how…how you started working for the Phantom Express?”

 T-bone nodded slowly. “You say I don’t understand why you did it, but I know perfectly well. I never wanted you to get hurt…but I guess I failed in making sure of that.”

“But…Cagney isn’t like Janelle…” Specter answered. “He really does love me…”

“I know that now…” T-bone said much to Specter’s surprise. “You’re extremely lucky to have found someone who is willing to give up his freedom for you…and even though I don’t approve what you did, I understand why you did it.”

T-bone then stood up and straightened his conductor’s cap. “I gotta get going…we’re due to leave in a couple of minutes. I’ll let you know if you’re needed.”

And with that the skeleton left the ghost alone in his room. Specter sat up in bed and stared down at his hands, trying to comprehend what he had just learned. Thoughts swarmed through his head. Thoughts about T-bone, about Janelle, about the similarities between T-bone’s story and his own…and also thoughts about Cagney.”

Specter floated over to the window and glanced out. The Devil’s Casino stood there bright and colorful but also a prison to Cagney. Specter allowed his finger tips to touch the glass window as he stared at the casino. He barely heard T-bone’s call for everyone aboard nor the Head of the Train’s whistle. The train lurched forward and began to move forward.

Specter remained where he was as he watched the casino grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared from view. With a sigh of despair, Specter rested his forehead against the window.

He was just so close…yet so far. There was nothing else he could do but merely whisper one word.

“Cagney…”

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney had no idea how long they fell through the dark portal. It seemed like hours of wind blasting through his petals and unholy whistling wailing in the air. Finally there was a burst of light and the next thing he knew he was dropped on the floor. Cagney gave a pained grunt and curled up into a ball.

“Get up, ya’ weed.” The Devil’s voice snapped.

It took Cagney a few minutes before he slowly sat up and got a good look at his surroundings. He was in a vast throne room with tall white pillars surrounding the room. In front of him stood a large gold and red throne where the devil sat and leered down at him.

“Well I gotta say, you’ve surprised all of us…didn’t he, Dice?”

“Sure did.” King Dice’s voice sounded behind Cagney. The flower slowly turned his head to look back and was dismayed to see King Dice standing between him and the door leaving him with no chance to escape.

“Yes,” The Devil clasped his hands in front of him and placed his chin on them, eyeing Cagney with interest. “Hard to believe a wimp like you would be willing to sell your entire soul to the likes of me.”

Cagney still didn’t answer. It was best not to aggravate the situation. The Devil merely grinned. “Won’t talk eh? Good. I’ve got enough souls begging and screaming for mercy. I sure as hell don’t need another!”  He laughed at his own joke but still Cagney remained silent. The Devil’s laugh trailed off and he frowned in annoyance. “Dice, take the weed to his area. Might as well get him comfortable while I get his caretaker. He’s gonna be here for a looong time.”

“Can do, boss.” Cagney felt Dice grab his vine arm and yank him away from the throne room. His mind was still reeling from what the Devil had said.

Caretaker? Why would he need a caretaker?

Dice led him down the hallway where he took a right and then a left and then another right again. Cagney didn’t have time to look around his surroundings. All he could hear were loud voices coming from everywhere. Some were laughing in an uproar. Others were screaming and wailing.

“Hey, Boss!”

Cagney glanced up to see a skeletal horse and a huge eight ball coming towards them. The eight ball stared at the flower in amazement. “Who’s that?”

“New soul the devil had obtained,” King Dice smirked. “So what’s going on?”

“Just wanted to let you know,” The skeletal horse answered, “that the Troop won’t be able to make it to this evening’s meeting.”

King Dice raised a brow and he glared at the horse. “And why not?”

“It’s obvious isn’t it?”

“Ugh!” King Dice pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those morons. Well once they sober up, I’ll deal with them personally.” He tugged Cagney’s arm again. “C’mon you.”

The eight ball grinned at the flower as he went past him. “Abandon all hope, ye’ who enter here!”

Cagney felt sick to his stomach at these words. Soon they stopped in front of a door and he was shoved into a room.

“Now stay there,” King Dice ordered. “The boss will be here soon to introduce you to your caretaker.”

And with that the dice slammed the door shut.

Finally Cagney had a chance to breathe a little bit and look around. The walls of the room were a dull red and made out of stone. Cagney placed a leaf hand on the walls and it was warm to the touch. At one corner of the room was a small bed and in the other corner was a desk but Cagney couldn’t see any paper or writing utensils.

Voices from outside the door made Cagney turn around and stand up straighter. The door opened to reveal the Devil as he stepped into the room and pointed towards Cagney. “Here he is. I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see who it is.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Cagney froze at the sound of the new voice. No…it wasn’t a new voice…it was familiar…terrifyingly familiar. A figure stepped into the room and Cagney could only stare at the purple face of the visitor.

“N-Nathan?”

The nightshade flower stared at Cagney for a minute before grinning with delight. “Well, well, well...never thought I’d see you here…babe.”

“Oh you two know each other?” The Devil smirked.

“Oh yeah,” Nathan went over to Cagney and threw an arm over his shoulder, pulling him closer. “We’ve been together for years…but he had an idiot moment and left thanks to that blind ghost from the express. But thanks to you, boss, he’s finally here back with me.”

“B-boss?!” Cagney stammered.

“Oh he never told you?” The Devil grinned. “Nathan’s been the best employee I ever had! I’ve received more debtor souls than from him than any other debt collectors I’ve hired.”

“Debt…collector?”

“Yes, ‘debt collector’,” Nathan snorted in amusement. “You see babe, when someone thinks they can skip out on paying their dues to the boss, I go find them and convince them to give it up. If they still refuse…well let’s just say they’ll be begging for me to take the contracts back. Oh speaking of which…”

Nathan then pulled out three scrolls and tossed them over to the Devil. “Got some new contracts you’ve ordered.”

“And three of them at once!” The Devil boomed with laughter. “I knew I made the right decision in hiring you!”  With a snap of his fingers, the contracts disappeared into thin air.

“B-but…” Cagney was still reeling from this revelation. “I thought…Specter said you had to…had to…”

“Had to get rid of him?” The Devil smirked. “Oh sure, but why should I get rid of my best employee here? He’s too important and what that ghost doesn’t know won’t hurt him, eh?”

The Devil patted Nathan on the back. “Well there you have it. Be sure to keep an eye on this weed.”

“Oh don’t worry…”

Cagney felt Nathan grab his chin and lift his head up making him stare straight into the nightshade’s eyes which narrowed.

“I’m never going to let him leave me ever again…”

“Atta boy there, Nightshade!” The Devil laughed. “Now come on. A successful business day like this must be celebrated!”

Cagney watched as the door slammed shut leaving him by himself in the room. A survival instinct kicked in and he ran to the door and grabbed onto the handle. He jerked his hands back and gave a painful yell. The handle of the door was burning hot. Cagney looked around to try and find another way to escape but there was none. The windows were too high for him to reach, there was no vent, and the ground was too hard for him to use any sort of vines or plants to help him escape.

He was trapped once again not only by the flower he feared but by the Devil himself. Cagney lurched towards the bed and collapsed in it, burying his face into the pillow. It was just too much and the flower finally released the despair as he cried out for Specter. How he wanted to feel the ghost’s familiar embrace, to hear his comforting voice, and to feel his arms wrapped around him. But Specter was not here and he was now trapped in hell.

The sounds of hell were filled with moans and demonic shrieks of laughter but if one listened very closely they would hear soft sobs and a voice that wept out one single word.

“Specter…”


	15. Breaking Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas my readers! :D
> 
> I’ve got you your Christmas gift! A new chapter of Price of Freedom and I made it a long one. Hope you enjoy it and I hope you guys have a great Christmas or whatever you celebrate! ^^

**CH 15: Breaking Point**

 

Six weeks.

That was how long Cagney had been in his prison. Six long weeks of being by Nathan’s side whenever he worked in the casino. Six weeks of being caressed and kissed by someone he didn’t love anymore. Six weeks of the cruel teasing and taunts. Six weeks of being entirely alone.

Well that wasn’t entirely true. Whenever Nathan had to leave the casino in order to obtain a runaway debtor’s soul Cagney was sometimes left under the watchful eye of one of King Dice’s lackeys. All of King Dicey’s lackeys were very harsh and sometimes even downright cruel, but some were a lot better than others. One such lackey was Phear Lap, the same skeletal horse Cagney saw on his first day in hell.

It all started one day when it was Phear Lap’s turn to watch over Cagney while Nathan went off to obtain another debtor’s soul and the horse wasn’t happy in being assigned as a babysitter. As he stood outside in the hallway, he took a puff of his cigar and scowled. He had other important things to do than babysit a flower who cried ever since he got here. But that was what the boss ordered him to do and what could he do about it?

The door opened and Nathan Nightshade stepped out from the room, pulling Cagney Carnation from the room.

“He’s all yours.” Nathan shoved Cagney towards Phear Lap. The horse flinched as Cagney stumbled onto his chest and remained there, listless and quiet.

Phear Lap frowned and glared at Nathan. “What the hell’s wrong with him? He’s sick or something?”

“How should I know?” Nathan shrugged. “He’s been like that all week.”

Phear Lap looked down at the carnation again who looked up at him with a blank expression on his face and dull eyes. With a snort of disgust, Phear Lap slowly pushed the flower off of him.

“You’ll keep an eye on him, won’t ya’?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Phear Lap snorted again. “He ain’t going anywhere.”

“Good.” Nathan smiled at Cagney and gave his petals another tug making the carnation flinch. “Now you be a good boy, Cagney. I’ll be back later.”

With a peck on Cagney’s cheek, Nathan left him alone with Phear Lap. The horse stared down at the flower who still didn’t move or say anything. With a sigh, Phear Lap grabbed Cagney’s arm and led him outside.

It was like that since then. Phear Lap would take Cagney out to the horse racing tracks where he worked as both a bookmaker and the track announcer. During his announcements during the races, he would just let Cagney remain at one corner of the booth and they wouldn’t speak to each other for the first couple of days. Finally on the third day Phear Lap became fed up with the silence and tried to get Cagney to talk.

The carnation merely remained quiet and merely shrugged to some of Phear Lap’s questions. It annoyed Phear Lap but still he remained at it. As time went on, Phear Lap started to notice how the carnation’s colors became duller and duller and for some reason it made him feel a twinge of concern. He tried to push that feeling away. He was working at the Devil’s Casino for crying out loud. There is no room to feel sorry for others. One particular day a horse race was about to begin and Phear Lap glanced at the starting gate through his binoculars, frowning at what he saw.

“And it seems like Sorrel Sweet Tea is refusing to enter the starting gate…hopefully they’ll be able to get him in in time for the race.”

Putting his binoculars down, he once again glanced over at Cagney who was still sitting in the corner and staring off at nothing. With a snort of annoyance, Phear Lap turned and glared straight at Cagney. “Okay, talk.”

Cagney blinked at this and slowly stared up at Phear Lap.

“Talk!” Phear Lap snapped. “I’m getting sick of you moping around like it’s the end of the world or something! I mean sure, it ain’t a picnic working for the devil at times but I’ m sure you could have had it worse outside of this place!”

“You wanna bet?”

This made Phear Lap do a double take on what he just heard. Finally he smirked. “So…you do talk. Amazing.”

Cagney merely said nothing. Phear Lap took out a cigar and lit it up, puffing a few times on it before settling back. “So then what’s your story, kid?”  

“Huh?”

“How did you end up working here? Don’t tell me…you’ve made a few gambling debts and had no idea how to pay them off…so you sold your soul.”

“No.” Cagney glared at the horse. “I…I did it for love.” 

Phear Lap took a long drag on his cigar. “Ah…got a girl back home then?”

“Boy…actually.”

“A boy?”

Cagney nodded.

“Huh…” Phear Lap flicked some cigar ashes off of the end. “Well I’ll be damned. Nathan’s your boyfriend?”

Cagney said nothing which caused Phear Lap to take another drag on his cigar.

“So…you two sold your souls so you could be with each other?”

“That’s what you really think?’

“Well why else would you want to be with him?”

“Oh sure!” Cagney finally snapped. “I just sold my soul to be with someone who constantly treats me like shit! I just enjoy waking up to a constant nightmare and to literal hell every single day! I absolutely love it whenever I think about Specter and feel like my heart is about to rip into two because I just want to be with him but I can’t because-because—”

Cagney clenched his hands into fists and began to shake with rage. “Because I’m trapped once again and I have no idea how to get out! I want to get out of here and be with Specter again! But I can’t!”

The carnation collapsed to the floor, still glaring at the skeletal horse. “There! I talked! You happy now?!”

Phear Lap merely stared down at the carnation with a blank expression on his face. He then turned around and looked through his binoculars before speaking into the microphone.

“And Sorrel Sweet Tea is still having troubles getting into the starting gate. That horse better get in soon so that the race can properly begin.”

Cagney folded his arms and looked away, anger slowly rising inside him. Of course Phear Lap didn’t care. Nobody did in this place.

“Specter…is he another boyfriend of yours?”

Cagney felt a wave of grief. “Not just another…he’s the one I want to be with for the rest of my life…but I can’t anymore.”

“Hmm…” Phear Lap looked through his binoculars again. “You don’t like it here, don’t ya?”

“I hate it.”

“And he threatened you, didn’t he?”

Cagney blinked. “What?”

“The boss. He told you that if you tried to escape he’ll hunt you down and make you pay.”

“You mean the Devil?”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

Cagney nodded slowly. “I sold my soul and signed the contract. I have no idea if I can escape from here this time.”

“Huh…” Phear Lap glared down at the race track and grabbed the microphone. “Would the riders please get Sorrel Sweet Tea into the starting gate so that we can start?”

Turning off the microphone, Phear Lap leaned back against his chair and puffed out some smoke from his cigar. There was another moment of silence as Phear Lap smoked his cigar and Cagney looked down at the ground. Finally it was Phear Lap who broke the silence. “Ever seen those two doors at the end of the west hallway?”

“What?”

“You do know where the west hallway is, right?”

“Of course I do.” Cagney scowled. “I’m not stupid.”

“Well there’s this large door at the end of that hallway and…you should just go through it…it might make you feel better.”

“Um…why are you telling me all this?”

Phear Lap glared at the flower. “That’s for me to know and you to find out, buster.”

Cagney stared at the skeletal horse before staring down at the ground again thinking about what he had said. All the souls trapped by the devil. Was it just possible to…?

For the first time in six weeks Cagney smiled a genuine smile. Maybe Phear Lap wasn’t so bad after all.

“GET THAT DAMN HORSE IN THE STARTING GATE OR I SWEAR TO COHL I’LL PERSONALLY SEND HIM OFF TO THE GLUE FACTORY!!”

Well then again...

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney had a new perspective about the casino when he returned at the end of the day from the racing tracks. Phear Lap was supposed to take Cagney straight back to the room but for some reason he allowed the flower to go back by himself. Said he had some other business to attend to. That suited Cagney just fine. He had his own business to attend to as well.

After learning about the mysterious doors from Phear Lap, he was more alert than ever before and began to roam around. He froze whenever other employees passed by and took great care in to not let the others see him. Finally he reached the rumored doors in the west hallway and slowly made his way towards it. What was on the other side of the doors? Was it some kind of trap? A ploy to keep Cagney here forever with no possible chance of escape? There was only one way to find out.

Slowly he reached towards the door knob and opened the door just an inch. Peeking inside he gasped in awe. Inside the room were rows and rows of bookshelves but instead of books there were scrolls with names written on them. Cagney stepped into the room and glanced at the different names on the scrolls. Suddenly his eyes came upon the scroll with his own name and in some sort of twisted irony a scroll with the name of the Phantom Express was right next to his own.

Now Cagney’s mind was racing. Was it possible to just take those contracts and possible…destroy them? Would they finally be free?

“What are you doing here?”

Cagney froze and turned around. Nathan was standing right behind him, glaring down at him.

“I asked you a question.”

“N-nothing…” Cagney immediately looked down at the ground. “I…didn’t remember where the room was and I got lost.”

Nathan merely said nothing which made Cagney extremely nervous. Nathan yelling at him was much preferred than just remaining silent. It made him unpredictable. What was he going to do now?

Suddenly Nathan made an attempt to grab onto Cagney’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Wait Nathan,” Cagney took a step back. “Umm…I just wanted to know…what is this place?”

“None of your Cohl damn business Cagney.” Nathan snatched up his arm and started to drag him away. “Now let’s go.”

“Nathan, stop!” Cagney struggled to break free from Nathan’s grasp. “Let go of me! OW!”

Cagney felt the air leave him as he was slammed against the wall and his arms pinned upwards by Nathan while his face was grabbed with Nathan’s other hand.

“You’re being a stubborn shit, aren’t ya’?” Nathan growled between his teeth. “You weren’t like this when we were dating back then. That ghost ruined ya’.”

Cagney yanked his face away from Nathan’s hands and glared at him. “Don’t talk about him like that.”

Nathan smirked. “Ooh, touched a nerve there huh? Well let me tell ya’ this ‘babe’, that ghost ain’t gonna rescue you this time. He’s trapped forever in that ghost train and it’s all because of you. If you hadn’t given up your own soul, you would have been free as a bird.”

“But he would have been stuck here with the Devil...and with you.” Cagney answered back. “At least I know he won’t have to go through that.”

“True,” Nathan nodded slowly. “But seeing that he’s a stubborn shit, he’s gonna screw up sooner or later and once he does, he’s going to be rotting here.” Nathan’s grin grew wider. “I’m seriously going to enjoy that. I’ll finally be able to make him pay for stealing you away from me. My revenge is going to be complete once I get my hands on him. He’ll soon learn that he won’t take something from me ever again. Wouldn’t you like that, Cag—”

“SHUT UP!”

Cagney yanked his arms out of Nathan’s grip and he backhanded the nightshade as hard as he could sending him down to the floor. Nathan sat up in rage but rage soon turned to alarm as he witnessed the carnation grow bigger, his vines grew thicker and covered with thorns and his orange petals grew into huge triangles like flames. The vines wrapped around the nightshade flower and Cagney towered over him, rage flaring in his eyes.

“I am not going to let you hurt him, and you’re never going to hurt me… _EVER AGAIN!”_

With a roar of rage, Cagney slammed the nightshade flower onto the ground, raising him up and slammed him again before doing it again. He didn’t know how long he vented out months of pain and rage but he didn’t care. Months of pain and abuse caused his vision to see red and the main focus of his rage was the nightshade that made his life a nightmare. He didn’t know how long it was before he finally stopped from exhaustion and sank back into his normal form.

The red haze disappeared and he was finally able to see the broken battered form of Nathan laying on the ground. For a minute Cagney felt cold horror at what he had done. Had he just killed him? A groan of pain came from Nathan answering Cagney’s question. He was still alive. He should just finish the job right then and there. No…there were more important matters to attend to.

Cagney whirled around and ran straight into the room of contracts, grabbing both his contract and the Phantom Express’s contract. He ran straight out of the room and past Nathan’s battered body. Let someone else deal with him. He just had to get out of here now.

Running to the nearest door he threw it wide open and the sounds of machines, shouts and roaring laughter greeted him. Stumbling through the machine aisles, Cagney pushed and dodged through the crowd of casino goers and headed straight towards the exit. Looking over his shoulder he gasped in horror at the sight of King Dice running towards the hallway he just came out of. They’ll find Nathan soon and then the hunt will be on. Where was the exit?!

Cagney began to push and shove through the crowd, ignoring the angry shouts and threats coming from the crowd. There was no time to be decent. With the contracts still clutched in his hands, he managed to make his way through the crowd and to the grand doors. Grabbing onto the handles he couldn’t help but take one last glance back. King Dice and the Devil were just stepping out onto the casino floor and Cagney slipped through the doors.

The carnation stumbled down the steps and ran straight towards the cave which led to freedom. However as he ran his legs began to slow down and his throat began to burn. Exhaustion was setting in but he just had to keep going. He couldn’t let them catch him. Finally he came out onto the other side where the city of Inwell Isle 3 met his vision. Cagney hated the city ever since he arrived a few years ago but now it was the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.

He stumbled down the three large steps and made it to the railroad. Without even thinking on which way he was going, Cagney turned and went straight into the dark tunnel. He tried his best to keep running but his running had now turned into an awkward lurch. He stopped and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, breathing heavily. He took a step and staggered but he did his best to take another step. Finally after taking a couple of more steps he couldn’t take it any longer. He collapsed on the railway and all of his strength vanished. Still he was surprised to find he had the contracts still clutched tightly in his hands.

At least he had enough strength to hold on to those. There was a whistle in the tunnel and the ground began to rumble. Cagney wasn’t worried though. He closed his eyes as the rumbling grew stronger and the whistle grew louder. He didn’t care what happened anymore. Anything was better than being caught by the Devil again…right?

As he slipped into unconsciousness the last thing he remembered was a bright light surrounding him and his last thoughts before falling into darkness was the thought of the blind ghost and the feeling of sorrow for not being able to see him at least one last time.


	16. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a Happy New Years! To start off the year 2018, I have the next installment of "Price of Freedom"!   
> Hope you enjoy it. ^^

**CH 16: Reunion**

 

“Tickets please…”

The two passengers dug through their pockets and handed the ghost their tickets. Specter glanced at the tickets and then at the passengers. “Thanks…”

He turned to float away.

“Um excuse me?”

“Yeah?” Specter turned his head towards the passenger.

“Erm, aren’t you supposed to punch them in and give it back?”

“Oh…” Specter stared down at the tickets in his hands. “Sorry…”

Taking the ticket puncher, he did his task of punching the tickets and gave it back to the two passengers. After being thanked by the passengers Specter turned and floated down the passenger car, heaving a sigh. He didn’t know why T-bone gave him a job on punching tickets. He was in no mood to do much of anything ever since Cagney was taken away.

He knew T-bone meant well and he should have gotten over the loss by now. And yet he was still feeling as hopeless and sad as ever.

Specter took a seat in the back and rested his forehead against the window as he watched the trees go by him. He wondered what Cagney was doing right now. Was he doing well? He mentally slapped himself. Cagney was in hell! Of course he wasn’t doing well! He was probably being tortured at this moment!

The thought of this made Specter look down at his hands and clenched them. He had to get out of here somehow. He glanced up and considered in trying to break free again. Maybe this time he’ll be able to break the invisible chains and fly to the casino. The train went through a tunnel and Specter settled back on the seat. Right after this tunnel he’ll start again.

However to his surprise the train slowly came to a stop. What was going on? Why were they stopping?

The passengers also seemed to be just as confused as he was. Some were whispering and others were standing up to see what was going on. There were a few minutes of silence until finally the train slowly began go forward and pick up speed. The doors opened and T-bone came walking in carrying a bundle of blankets in his arms.

“Spec, your room, now.”

Specter followed the skeleton into his caboose and hung back at his door as he watched T-bone place something on his bed.

“You don’t mind he stays here?”

He?

Specter floated closer to the bed and looked. He froze when he saw who it was.

“C-Cagney?!”

The flower was limp on the bed and his eyes were closed. Specter held Cagney’s face in his hands. “Cagney? Cagney…it’s me…Spec!”

There was no response from the flower. Terrified, Specter glanced up at T-bone. “Is he…?”

“He’s alive,” T-bone reassured the ghost. “But he’s exhausted. It’s best to just let him sleep and let him wake up on his own.”

Specter merely bit his bottom lip and glanced down at the sleeping flower.

“Come on, Specs…just let him rest.”

Reluctantly Specter let T-bone lead him away from the bed and out of the caboose. He watched as T-bone slowly closed the door before he began to ask questions.

“Where was he?”

“Head of the Train found him passed out on the tracks.” T-bone explained.

“How did he escape the casino?”

“That we don’t know,” T-bone answered. “But…we did find these.”

Specter looked down at T-bone’s hand and saw two contracts. His eyes floated down closer and read the name of the Phantom Express and Cagney’s name.

“Are those…our contracts?”

T-bone nodded which made Specter grin with excitement.

“This is great!” He gave a little jump of excitement. “We can destroy these contracts and we’ll be free!”

“Spec…it doesn’t work that way.”

“What do you mean?” Specter asked. “All we gotta do is just rip them up!”

“Spec—”

Not bothering to let T-bone finish, Specter opened up Cagney’s contract and pulled both ends of the paper to rip it. To his complete surprise the paper did not rip, not even one tear appeared. He pulled again but it remained whole. Again he pulled but the more he pulled the harder it became.

T-bone merely watched as the ghost tried again and again to tear the contract apart and he sighed. “It can’t be destroyed by just ripping it apart. You need to burn it.”

“Oh!” Specter was panting by now and he dropped his arms down to his sides, staring at T-bone. “Well…why didn’t you say so? We can go to the Head of the Train and—”

“It still won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“This type of paper is specially made for the depths of hell. Only flames from that place will be able to burn the contracts and free us.”

Specter stared at T-bone and then stared down at the contracts. “So…unless we go to the Devil’s lair and throw these into the fire…we’re still trapped.”

“Basically.”

There was a pause before Specter threw the contracts on the ground.

“Well that’s a load of shit!”

“Specs…” T-bone said with a note of warning in his voice.

“But it is!” Specter didn’t let up. “I mean, Cagney risked his life to get these contracts, we have them right here in our hands, and we still can’t break free of the Devil?! It’s like we’ll never be free of him!”

“Not quite…”

Specter blinked. “Huh?”

T-bone picked up the contracts from the floor and examined them. “Now that we have the contracts, we have a bit of leeway. We don’t owe anything to the Devil now. We’re…sort of free…”

“Sort of?”

“There’s the risk of having the Devil come find us and get these contracts back. Him or one of his minions and we need to keep a lookout for either of them.”

“So then…we’re not really free.”

“Correct.”

Specter heaved a sigh. “So…what can I do now?”

“Take care of Cagney. He probably needs you now than ever.”

Specter glanced over at the door leading to his caboose and nodded. The ghost floated through the door and went towards the side of his bed where the carnation still remained unconscious.

“Cagney?” Specter whispered. “Cagney, I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s me. It’s Specter.”

There was no reaction from the flower.

“Head of the Train found you on the railroad tracks…I can’t imagine how you managed to escape the devil and with both of our contracts in hand. That’s just amazing…like you.”

There was still no response. Taking the leaf hand into his own, Specter raised it up to his lips and kissed it. “I hope you wake up soon Cags. I missed you so much. I love you.”

With his hand still holding on to Cagney’s, Specter laid his head on the bed and his floating eyes drifted onto the bed as well, slowly closing them as the ghost drifted off to sleep. If he had remained awake a little while longer he would have felt a gentle squeeze of his hand.

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney came awake slowly and groggily. The first thing he could see was a faint white light and the color blue. He closed his eyes tightly before slowly opening them again to clear his vision. He was in a room…a familiar room. The flower sat up and felt something holding onto his hand. He looked over and his heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw that it was Specter holding his hand. The ghost had his head on the bed and he was breathing in and out slowly and softly.

Cagney looked around and saw that he was back in Specter’s caboose. The moon’s light was shining through the windows and the train was moving forward with a whistle blowing in the night. Turning his attention back to Specter, Cagney slowly reached over and stroked the small wisp on the back of the ghost’s head.

Specter blinked and raised his head. He immediately sat up and stared at the flower. “C-Cagney…”

Cagney smiled. “Hey Specs…”

The two merely stared at each other as if unable to believe they were seeing each other. Specter reached over and cupped his hands underneath Cagney’s face. He slowly stroked his thumbs over the flower’s cheeks before resting his forehead against the flower’s.

“I can’t believe it…you’re here…”

Cagney closed his eyes and held onto Specter’s hand. “Specs…I missed you so much…”

“I did too.” Specter whispered. “I never thought that you would come back.”

“I didn’t either…” Cagney admitted. “But…I just took the chance and ran.”

“But how did you do it?”

And so Cagney told the whole story to Specter. He told him how he was locked in the room all night, how some of King Dice’s minions would torment him, and he also told him about Nathan being an employee of the Devil. Specter stared at Cagney with a horrified expression when he learned this which turned into an expression of rage.

“That bastard…he said he would free you from Nathan and he made him your guardian again! When we get to the casino, I’m going to go straight in there and kill that nightshade bastard!”

“You don’t have to,” Cagney sighed. “I…I…”

“What?” Specter became concerned. “What is it?”

A whine came from Cagney’s throat and then turned into a sob. “Oh Specs, it was horrible! I couldn’t stand it there! I was trapped again with him! When he mentioned threatening you, I just snapped! I couldn’t take it anymore!”

“Shhh,” Specter comforted Cagney as he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here now. You escaped and now you’re safe.”

“But I’m not!” Cagney sobbed. “The Devil will send minions to get our souls! He won’t stop until we’re under his control again!”

Specter sighed. “Yeah, T-bone has mentioned that…there must be something we can do about it…”

Cagney buried his face into Specter’s chest. “He’s looking for me, Specs. Looking for us…our contracts. If I stay here with you…he’ll find them both.”

Specter stared down at the carnation. “Cag…what are you saying?”

Cagney looked up and tears were streaming down his cheeks. “I…I can’t be around you…”

Specter’s stunned silence caused Cagney to squeeze his hand. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” He tried to reassure the ghost, “but I can’t risk putting you in danger if he finds me. If he finds out I’m staying here with you…” Cagney trailed off, shuddering at the thought of what the Devil could do to the whole Phantom Express. He gave a pleading look towards Specter. “Please understand…I don’t want to do this and—”

Specter leaned forward and pressed his lips against Cagney’s. After that he gave a reassuring smile to the flower. “I understand Cag. I don’t want you put in any danger either. Your safety is more important than anything.”

Cagney gave the ghost a loving hug. “Thank you Specs…I love you and I don’t want to bring you any harm. We’ll find a way out of this...”

“I know,” Specter kissed the top of Cagney’s head. “I know we will.” He reluctantly pulled away from Cagney and headed towards the door. “I…I’ll go tell T-bone about our plan. Erm, do you know a place that could be safe?”

Cagney thought about it for a moment. “Fleischer Fields…in Inkwell Isle One. I doubt the Devil would know where that is…”

“Got it.” Specter nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Once Specter was gone, Cagney remained in the bed and thought about the next major step in this situation. He had no idea just how long the Devil will be searching for him. It could be days…maybe weeks…months…years…forever? During that time, he had to keep Specter safe by remaining separated from him. Of all his rotten luck, he was finally reunited with his love and now they have to be separated again! But now Cagney was determined to fight…determined to show Specter his love.

Specter returned a short while later. “The plan has been set. We’ll arrive at Inkwell Isle One in the morning. T-bone will call the Root Pack and they’ll pick you up and the train depot.”

“Then we have only this night to be together…”

Specter nodded as he sat next to Cagney, sighing. “It’s not fair…we’re finally together again and we have to say goodbye again.”

“Then…we’ll just have to take advantage of the time we have.”

“What are you—”

Specter froze when Cagney pressed his lips against his. The ghost was frozen from being kissed but soon relaxed and kissed back. The kiss became more passionate as Cagney wrapped his arms around Specter, pressing his body against his. Specter slowly laid Cagney on the bed and began kissing his neck. Cagney closed his eyes and gave a moan of ecstasy. Cagney ran one hand down Specter’s back and the other against his chest. Specter then pulled away.

“Cag…are you…are you sure you want this?”

Cagney reached over and touched his forehead against Specter’s. “I’m positive. I want to do this. I want you. I’m ready.”

That was the sign of permission Specter had been waiting for. The ghost pressed his lips against the flower’s once again and they both sank onto the bed, determined to make their final night together last as long as they want.


	17. Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> Here we have the latest chapter of "Price of Freedom"!  
> Sadly, I must announce that this fanfic is almost at the end. But don’t you fret! I’m still planning on a few things. ;)
> 
> Until then, enjoy the latest chapter!

**Ch 17: Departure**

 

The whistle blew early at dawn the next morning awakening T-bone. As usual he got up from his bed, got his usual cup of coffee from the nearby table, checked to make sure there were no lumps in the coffee before going outside to his usual spot to watch the sun rise.

“Hey T…”

T-bone glanced up in time to see the Blaze Brothers slithering towards him.

“We’re about to arrive at Inkwell Isle One in about thirty minutes.”

“Thirty minutes…”

“Are you gonna wake them up?”

T-bone sipped his coffee. “Give them some more time for them to be alone with each other. I’ll wake them up when we’re close.”

One of the Blaze Brothers nodded and slithered off while the other merely frowned. “What’s up with ya’, T?”

“What do you mean?”

“I would have expected ya’ to scream and rave at Specs for making a deal with that Devil. Yet you didn’t say anything.”

“I think losing Cagney was enough punishment, don’t you think?”

“I guess.” The piston shrugged.

T-bones sighed. “Look, no offense but I doubt you’ll understand why Specs did what he did. I ain’t happy about it, that’s for sure, but I can understand it.”

“Similar events in your life?”

“Huh?”

“Have you’ve done what he’s done?”

T-bone stiffened before taking another sip of his coffee. “Perhaps…”

The piston gave a huge grin. “Ha! Never took you as some sort of lady’s man, T!”

T-bone pointed a thin finger towards the brother. “And you’d better not spread it around, got it?”

“Sure, sure!” Still snickering, the Blaze Brother went off to find his twin.

Sighing T-bone leaned against the railing and took another sip of his coffee. Memories of his past love came to his mind and he sighed sadly. Perhaps if he had wised up and realized that Janelle would never love him then maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess. That’s the problem with love. Makes you do stupid things.

But then again, Cagney was not like Janelle at all. Not if he was willing to risk his own freedom to save Specter from the fate of being enslaved by the Devil. T-bone still wasn’t sure whether to admire this or snort with cynicism. Well one thing he did know,  love caused nothing but trouble.

 

* * *

 

 

Specter was the first one to come awake. His eyes groggily looked around and then settled on the flower that was curled up in his arms. He closed his eyes again and snuggled closer to Cagney. Maybe the deal with the Devil was just a nightmare and he was just waking up. Everything was going well. There was no deal, no devil searching for them, just him and Cagney together.

He heard footsteps coming up to his section of the caboose and the door slowly opened. Specter turned his head to see T-bone peeking in.

“Oh, were you awake already?”

“I just woke up…” Specter sighed.

“Well, I just came in to inform you that we’re nearly there.”

Specter’s heart sank at these words. So it wasn’t a nightmare. It was real.

“Okay…” He whispered miserably. “I’ll…I’ll wake him up.”

T-bone gave a nod and closed the door.

Specter stroked Cagney’s petals and pressed his lips against his forehead. “Hey…Cagney, wake up…”

Cagney’s eyes slowly opened and he looked up at the ghost, smiling softly. “Hey…”

“Good morning.”

“‘morning…” The flower’s expression fell when he saw Specter’s. “Are we…are we here now?”

“Just about.”

Cagney raised himself up and wrapped his vine arms around Specter, resting his head on his chest. “I don’t want to leave you Specs…”

“I know,” Specter stroked his petals. “I don’t want to either.”

Cagney placed his leaf hands on Specter’s cheeks. “We’ll find a way out of this. I promise that things will turn out all right.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Specter smiled. He then sighed sadly. “But…I’m going to miss you.”

“I will too.”

The train then began to slow down and soon came to a stop in front of a train depot that said “INKWELL ISLE ONE.”

Cagney sighed. “Well…that’s my stop…”

Specter leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Cagney’s. “I love you…”

“I love you too.” Cagney whispered back.

Specter placed a hand underneath Cagney’s chin and lifted his face up and kissed him deeply. Cagney closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall into one last final kiss. Afterwards Specter broke the kiss and floated up, holding out his hand which Cagney took. Both flower and ghost went down where T-bone was waiting for them at the train exit. When Cagney went past him he tipped his conductor hat towards the flower.

“Cagney Carnation…it’s been an honor to know ya’.”

“Thanks, T-bone.” Cagney gave a small smile.

“Hey Cagney…”

Cagney looked back to see the Blaze Brothers giving him encouraging smiles.

“Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“Yeah, take care.”

Cagney nodded and gave Specter one last look. Specter was trying to keep a brave façade but Cagney could see tears welling up in the ghost’s eyeballs. Cagney gave a reassuring smile at the ghost. It’ll be all right. He just knew it. Specter smiled back as Cagney stepped out onto the platform where he saw a familiar carrot, potato and onion waiting for him. Once they spotted him they began to wave towards him.

Cagney started walking towards them when a deep voice interrupted him.

“Hey Cagney…”

Cagney turned and headed towards the front of the train where the Head of the Train glanced sideways towards him. “Keep out of trouble, will ya’?”

“Sure…and…take care of Specs, will you?”

“Can do.”

“All aboard!”

Cagney stepped back from the train as the whistle wailed in the air and the train started to surge forward. The carnation merely stood watching as the train cars passed by and then finally the caboose went past. Specter was standing near the railing and to Cagney’s surprise Specter grabbed onto the rail and flipped over until he was just holding on to the railway and the rest of his body was just floating like a flag.

Specter turned his head to look at Cagney and smiled. Cagney couldn’t help himself. The tears immediately started flowing but he was laughing. He broke into a run and went after the caboose, reaching out towards Specter. The ghost released one hand and reached out towards Cagney. Their hands were nearly touching when the train went faster and the platform ended.

Cagney came to a stop as the train left the Inkwell Isle One train depot and he watched the train grow smaller and smaller along with Specter who was slowly waving goodbye towards him. Cagney raised a leaf and waved back. He remained like that until finally the train disappeared from view taking Specter along with it.

 

* * *

 

 

“Three...MONTHS!”

Some of the casino bosses flinched at King Dice’s tone of voice. The manager was not happy. Then again he wasn’t happy ever since the flower had escaped.

“It’s been three months and we still haven’t found out who let him escape!”

“But boss,” Mr. Wheezy spoke up, “it was that nightshade who let him escape. He let a weed beat him to a pulp!”

“True,” King Dice narrowed his eyes. “But someone let it slip about the contracts in the west hallway! Nobody except for all nine of you knows about that room…so obviously one of you did it.”

The bosses looked at each other in bewilderment and also nervousness. Everyone that is except Phear Lap. He just looked puzzled. King Dice remained standing there, his hands behind his back and his eyes slowly going from boss to boss to find a guilty looking suspect.

“Mark my words,” He spoke slowly, “we’ll find out who the turncoat is…and when we do, oh you’ll be screaming for mercy when the boss gets his hands on you.” King Dice whirled around and walked off. “You’re all dismissed. Back to your duties!”

There was a quiet sigh of relief as the bosses departed to head back to their stations while gossiping about the recent events.

“You think they’ll find out who let the weed escape?”

“I sure hope so! I ain’t taking the fall for something someone else did!”

“How’s that nightshade guy doing?”

“Still at the hospital but slowly getting better.”

“Hmph, never liked that guy anyway. Let’s hope he stays there for all I care.”

Phear Lap was the last one standing. His ears twitched in bewilderment when he thought about the events that took place after his talk with Cagney. He hadn’t expected such a violent reaction from the flower. He knew there was some sort of hostility between him and the nightshade but never in his wildest dreams did he expect the carnation to go ballistic.

He wondered if it had been a good idea to tell the carnation about the room of contracts. To his great surprise, he realized that he didn’t feel guilt by letting the carnation know nor did he feel any anger towards him for escaping. In fact he felt a bit of relief. Sure being bookkeeper and announcer for the Inwell Hell’s races had it’s great moments, but it was still hell after all and he was still trapped along with the others who had signed their souls away in the contracts.

Maybe he came to genuinely like the carnation despite him being so silent and grim. Maybe he was just relieved that nobody else would be trapped in a place of gloom and despair. Or maybe he’ll just never know.

Phear Lap started to head back towards his station and winced as pain shot up through his legs. Damn these crippled legs of his. With a sigh he limped back towards the race tracks. At least that flower had a chance at a new beginning in his life…not like him.

 

* * *

 

 

King Dice stepped into the office just as the Devil slammed the phone down and slumped back in his throne, growling with frustration.

“Don’t tell me,” King Dice frowned. “Belladonna again?”

“If I hear that bitch rant and rave about suing this place again,” The Devil snarled, “I’m gonna tear her apart myself! How was I supposed to know that weed was gonna erupt and attack?! Ain’t my fault that moron let himself be beaten up!”

King Dice couldn’t help but smirk at this. He had never liked Nathan himself due to the nightshade trying to kiss up to the Devil. Hearing the Devil blame Nathan for is injuries was very satisfying.

“So,” The Devil lit up a cigar and took a puff. “No luck in finding out who ran his mouth?”

“Not yet,” King Dice shook his head. “They don’t seem to know who did it. I doubt they’ll be of any help.”

“Well what about that Mangosteen?”

“Nah. He’s an idiot but he ain’t stupid enough to be disloyal.”

“What about the rabbit?”

“He’s crazed, but still not disloyal.”

“Phear Lap?”

“Not a chance. He’s one of the most loyal employees I’ve got.”

The Devil growled in annoyance and stood up. He walked over to the large windows and glared out at the desolate landscape. “We’ll find the traitor soon…and when we do…” He cigar in his mouth lit up in flames as the Devil’s eyes blazed in red anger. “And the worst part…the WORST part…the nightshade only had fifteen more contracts to obtain! Seventeen now that those two contracts are lost to us!”

“You know boss,” King Dice spoke up, “maybe you need someone more capable to get those other contracts…”

“Yeah?” The Devil snorted. “Like who?”

“Well…what about me?”

“I’ve told ya’ before, you’re needed right here in the casino. We need someone with spunk…someone…younger…”

The Devil took a few more puffs on his cigar then something caught his eye. He looked down and saw two young boys entering into hell with expressions of awe as they stared at the casino. The Devil stared at the two cup boys for a minute. “Hey Dice, c’mere!”

King Dice went over to the Devil’s side and frowned at the sight of the two boys running towards the casino. “Should I kick them out?”

“No…” The Devil grinned. “Invite them in…I’ve got a good feeling about these two.”


	18. Floral Fury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I had to cut it in half due to it being too long...but that means you get two chapters at once! Lucky you! ^^

**Ch 18: Floral Fury**

 

Three months had passed since Cagney and Specter separated, but it seemed like three years for the carnation. He had found a small patch of ground in the meadow and settled in comfortably. He hid among the flowers for the first few days in case anyone of the Devil’s lackeys was searching for him in order to obtain his soul contract.

After three days of hiding, he realized how stupid it was to just hide like a little coward. He had to fight for his soul. So as the days passed he began to practice going into his feral stage like he did when he attacked Nathan. He practiced summoning up acorn missiles and seed boomerangs. It was during these practice sessions where he discovered he can also summon little plant helpers by turning himself into a Gatling gun and shooting seeds all over the place. That surprised yet amused him.

Yes, Cagney learned a lot about himself during this practice sessions and he was quite comfortable in his little area in the meadow. Of course it was not perfect. Deer constantly came out from the forests in order to feast on grass and flowers from the meadows and unfortunately some of them came too close and had nibbled on Cagney’s vines. Cagney had to jump up and scare them off from his hiding place a few times to keep them from chewing off his vines. After a while both plant and animal formed a silent truce with each other. Cagney allowed the deer to graze as long as they kept their distance from him.

One day he was watching a doe grazing a few feet away when a stag came out from the forest and went over to the doe. Cagney continued watching as the stag pressed its muzzle against the doe’s and the two deer nuzzled one another. Watching this display of affection made Cagney’s heart lurch. Not for the first time, thoughts of Specter came to his mind. How he missed the antics of the ghost, his contagious laugh and his gentle touches.

Cagney sank back to the ground and uttered a miserable sigh. The worst part of living here wasn’t the deer trying to bite your limbs off, he realized. It was the longing for Specter. A few months ago, he would have done anything to leave the city and get back to Inkwell Isle One. Now he wouldn’t care about living in a city as long as Specter was with him. Specter was the one that made his life brighter and happier.

Once every day Cagney would hear the whistle of the Phantom Express and would raise himself a little bit higher in order to catch a glimpse of it. He would watch it go past the meadow at a distance and always strained his eyes to see if Specter was there and would wave towards the train. It was a miserable three months without the ghost.

However it was about to get worse.

One day Cagney was nestled underneath the tree as he watched two does grazing a few feet in front of him. He scowled as one doe yanked a flower from the ground and swallowed.

“You guys are disgusting, you know that?”

The does continued on grazing, not paying any attention to the disgust of the flower. Suddenly they looked up and stiffened in alarm. Cagney frowned in confusion and turned to look. Two young cup boys were walking towards him. Cagney knew these two. Cuphead and Mugman, the young brothers who lived near the outskirts of the Isle. He had never interacted with them much but he certainly knew their antics and their mischief which made him go on edge.

The does immediately turned to walk off to another patch of meadow grass and began to graze further away from the carnation and the cup brothers. Cagney stared down at the two brothers as they stopped in front of him.

“Umm…can I help you two?”

The blue brother, Mugman, stepped up with a nervous smile. “Um hi…my name is Mugman and—”

“Yeah I know about you two,” Cagney interrupted. “Cuphead and Mugman. That doesn’t answer my first question.”

“Umm…well you see…” Mugman twiddled his thumbs nervously. “The reason we’re here is that—”

Cuphead stepped forward. “Look, we know you’re hiding your contract for the devil and now we’re here to take it back.”

There was a minute of silence.

“Excuse me?” Cagney cocked an eyebrow.

“We need that contract right now,” Cuphead demanded. “Hand it over and there won’t be any problems.”

Cagney felt the corner of his eye twitch. The Devil’s lackeys right here in front of him. He should be terrified out of his mind right now, but honestly…this was downright laughable.

“Umm…do you kids honestly believe you can take on me?”

“For your information,” Cuphead stood up straight and puffed out his chest, “we’re not kids. We’re kiddults.”

Mugman facepalmed while Cagney merely snorted with laughter. “Right…okay, well that was a good joke you two, but you’d probably better get home.”

“It’s not a joke.” Mugman looked up at the carnation. “We really need that soul contract of yours. We don’t want to but…we have to.”

Cagney stared at the twins for a minute longer. Then he smiled. “Well okay…I guess you can take it…on one condition.”

“Yeah?” The cup brothers grinned. “What’s that?”

“You take it over my dead body…”

Cagney stretched his jaw and gave a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the meadow. He grew longer and his eyes narrowed in fierce determination. “I lost my soul once, I’m not letting the Devil take it again!”

“C’mon Mug!” Cuphead ran towards Cagney. “We’ll take him!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Cagney laughed.

There was an explosion of different colored bullets. It was quite a scene. Even the two does stopped eating the flowers to watch the action.

Cagney lunged at the cup brothers once and then twice but the brothers evaded his attacks without any trouble.

Okay, if that’s how they want to play it.

Cagney lifted his head and went into his Gatling gun transformation. Let’s see how they liked this, he thought as he cranked up the gun and shot out many different colored seeds into the air. The seeds floated down to the ground and burst out into several pods, some on the ground while others in the air. The cup brothers immediately turned their attention to these pods and fired away, turning their backs against Cagney. Now this was his chance.

Cagney reared back and lunged forward. Cuphead turned and spotted the attack just in time, leaping over the carnation while calling out, “Watch out, Mug!”

Cagney heard the blue cup brother yelp in surprise as he took a blow. Strike one against them! This was going to be easier than he thought. Time for the second phase! With a step back, Cagney pressed his leaf hands together and opened them, releasing the acorn missiles which flew towards the brothers.

Both brothers saw them and dodged. No matter, there’s always the second weapon. Cagney released the boomerang but both brothers dodged it as easily as they did the acorns, still firing away at the carnation. Cagney tried the acorns again but they missed. He tried the boomerangs but the brothers ducked just in the nick of time and still their bullets kept on hitting him.

Cagney grabbed onto his petals and snarled with rage. Why weren’t they getting hit?! Why weren’t they giving up? Well he wasn’t about to give up either. The carnation slammed his arms down to the ground and activated phase three. He felt himself grow bigger and his vines grew into an incredible length. The cup brothers gasped in horror at this new transformation as Cagney threw back his head and cackled.

“Extreme pollination and total domination!”

He expected the brothers to flee or make a mistake for this new form, but they didn’t even look afraid. They continued on firing and leapt in the air, avoiding the carnation’s vines. Cagney swung his vines again and again, but every single time he missed them completely.

No!

He was not going to lose his soul to the Devil! He won’t be a prisoner any longer! With a roar of rage, Cagney lashed out again with his vine but then suddenly the red cup brother sprang up and clenched his fists together. A large bright blue ball erupted from the cup’s fists and shot out right towards Cagney.

Fierce pain burst in Cagney’s face and he felt himself stiffen then collapsed onto the ground, vines twitching in defeat. The two cup brothers slowly walked over to the flower, panting with exhaustion.

“Now…” Cuphead held out his hands. “The contract…”

Cagney raised his head slowly and growled at him. “I…I’m not…”

“Cuphead!” Mugman’s voice came from the tree trunk. “It’s in here!”

Cagney watched in horror as Mugman handed his soul contract to his brother. He made one desperate grab towards the brothers and they immediately jumped out of the way.

“You can’t take it!” Cagney snarled. “You can’t do this to me! I promised him I’d find a way out of this! I promised that everything will turn out all right! You can’t take me away from him! Not when I had…when I—”

Cagney slammed his fist on the ground, glaring at the brothers with rage and hatred.

“Mugs, c’mon…” Cuphead grabbed onto Mugman’s hand. “We gotta get out of here.”

Cagney was too weak to do anything by this time. He watched as the brothers ran off with his soul contract in hand.

“Go on!” He screeched. “Go ahead and run! I don’t care!”

By this time the brothers were already gone and this allowed Cagney to collapse to the ground and weep.

He failed him.

He failed Specter…


	19. Railroad Wrath

**Ch 19: Railroad Wrath**

 

News of the cup brothers spread fast throughout Inkwell Isle. Word of them defeating debtors who had escaped from the devil had gotten to other debtors and they immediately prepared to fight for their very souls against the two Devil lackeys. Even those on the move constantly had heard word about the brothers.

Specter was sitting at the edge of the bed and staring out the window, lost in thought. Thoughts of Cagney went through his mind and he felt his stomach area churn with anxiety. The brothers were said to be around Inkwell Isle Three at this moment. Had they already beaten up Cagney and taken his soul contract away? No, no…that wasn’t possible. Cagney was smart. He knew when to hide when someone was looking for him. He still has his contract…of course he does.

Specter groaned. Why wasn’t his reassurance to himself not working?

There was a knock at his door.

“Spec?” T-bone’s voice came from the other side. “Can I come in?”

“I guess…” Specter answered.

The door opened and T-bone merely poked his head in. “Is everything okay?”

Specter merely shrugged and T-bone knew immediately what was going on. “Still thinking about Cagney?”

Specter sighed and nodded. “Do you…do you think he’s okay?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” T-bone tried to reassure the ghost. “Like you’ve told us again and again…and again…he’s a smart flower. I’m sure he gave those cup brothers the slip and is still holding on to his soul contract.”

“But they said they got all of the contracts of Inkwell Isle One!” Specter pointed out. “What if Cags tried to fight them but lost? What if he’s already a prisoner in hell again? What if—” Specter immediately fell silent as T-bone placed a hand on his head.

“First of all, calm down.” The skeleton instructed. “Second of all, we’ll find out soon. We’ll be in Inkwell Isle One by tomorrow morning. Then we can contact Cagney and see if he’s okay.”

“Tomorrow morning?!”

“That’s the way it is Specs.” T-bone sighed. “I can’t make the head of the train go faster…not unless I want my hand to be bitten off…”

“But—”

“It’s going to be fine, Specs.” T-bone tried to reassure him. “You’ll see. We’ll figure out a way. All right?”

Specter sighed. “If you say so…”

“Good. Now then, I’d better get back to collecting tickets and then maybe we can all get a bite to eat. What do you say?”

Specter sighed. “I guess it’ll have to do…”

“All right. I’ll call you down when we’re done.”

“Got it…”

Specter turned his attention back to the landscape they were passing through and just heaved a heavier sigh. Tomorrow morning…anything could happen between now and tomorrow morning. Cagney could have been found by the brothers and they had already gotten his contract. Cagney might have fought against them and have been seriously hurt. What if they arrived and Cagney was badly injured…or worse?

Specter buried his face in his hands and groaned with despair. He had to stop making his anxieties worse by thinking all this. He slowly lifted his head up from his hands and stared out the window where he noticed something strange. A railway cart was following after them and Specter leaned forward a bit to see what was going on.  

There they were…those two little cups who were gathering up soul contracts now gliding down the tracks on a railway cart heading towards them. Specter’s panic quickly became a fierce anger of determination.

They won’t get far.

Specter floated out from his caboose and gave the most intimidating cackle he could do. His hopes of scaring the two cup brothers was in vain for they merely began shooting rapidly at him. Okay, if that’s how they want to play it then.

Specter began to throw his eyeballs out at them, still grinning like a maniac.

“You two will be counting worms by the time I’m done with you!”

“Try it, one-eye!” The red cup brother yelled out.

And tried Specter did, but again and again the cup brothers shot his eyeball missiles down and continued on shooting. Specter started to feel uneasy as the cup brothers didn’t let up. He was certain that they would have given up by now…but they weren’t. They kept on firing and Specter felt himself growing weaker.

No! He mustn’t give up! He must get Cagney’s contract back!

His grin slowly turned downwards until he was snarling. He began to throw more eyeball missiles, desperate to tire them out anyway possible.

“Cuphead!” The blue cup brother called out. “Energy Special!”

“Got it, Mug!”

Energy what?

The red cup brother leapt into the air and there was a bright light that shone from the cup. With a yell of determination, the cup began to spin and a huge stream of energy shot out towards Specter. The ghost felt his entire body freeze up and suddenly spasms coursed through his body. Specter gave a strangled scream. It wasn’t a scream of pain, but of panic. What was happening to him?

He couldn’t do it anymore. He had to get out of here. Specter immediately ducked back into the caboose and glided into one corner, grabbing onto himself as he tried to stop the spasms.

“Spec?!”

He heard T-bone’s voice from outside the door.

“Spec, what happened?!”

“The Cuphead brothers!” Specter cried out in a panic. “They beat me! I couldn’t defeat them! Now…now…”

Specter clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He failed Cagney…he failed to get his contract back!

“Stay there,” T-bone ordered. “I’ll deal with it!”

Specter obeyed without protest, He remained curled up in the corner as he listened to the sounds of fighting. He heard the shots being fired, T-bone slamming his large hands against the ground, then he heard the Blaze Brothers cackling. It seemed like forever until he felt the train slowing down.

Slowing down? What was going on?

Getting enough courage, Specter left the caboose and glided through the train cars. He found T-bone collapsed on some seats, clutching his head and groaning in pain.

“T-bone?!”

T-bone lifted a hand to look at the ghost.

“What happened?” Specter asked. “Why did we stop?”

“Head of the Train…” T-bone groaned. “He separated himself from the cars. Said he was going to make those cup brothers pay for what they had done to all of us.”

“They…they beat you too?”

“Sure did…”

“And the Blaze Brothers?”

T-bone pointed towards one corner of the car and Specter was horrified to see nothing but melted goop.

“They’re not dead,” T-bone reassured the ghost. “Whenever things become too much for them…they just melt. They’ll reform in a day or so…”

Specter felt relief at the knowledge that the Blaze Brothers weren’t gone for good. “So…what do we do now?”

“Now…we wait for the Head of the Train.”

It was nerve wrecking to wait once more. Specter kept on gliding up and down the train cars, wringing his hands nervously. Head of the Train was sure to have beaten those cup brothers by now. He was heavier and stronger than all of them. There is no way he could lose. It just wasn’t possible.

Finally after what seemed like hours, there was the noise of something big plodding towards the train cars. Specter poked his head out the window. The Head of the Train was slowly walking towards them looking banged up and very discouraged.

T-bone stood up and went outside, walking over to meet the Head of the Train.

“What happened?”

The Head of the Train looked straight at T-bone, his eyes filled with guilt. “I tried to stop them from getting to the casino…” His voice was low and heavy with sorrow. “They kept on shooting me up with their bullets…the dang tail of mine…I should have kept it hidden. They found out they can open me up and…well…” He dropped his head down and sighed. “It’s over…they’ve taken our contract to the casino…”

“Which means…”

“We’re all doomed now…”

“Doomed?”

T-bone and Head of the Train looked up to see Specter floating towards them.

“But…what about the other contracts? Our souls? And Cagney?”

T-bone sighed. “I’m sorry kid…the devil has our souls now…we might be looking at an eternity of servitude to that bastard…and…”

T-bone trailed off. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say that it was possible that Specter would never see Cagney again. But despite T-bone not saying anything, Specter knew.

He floated to the ground and buried his face in his hands, sobs wracking his entire body. T-bone remained still for a few short moments, then he slowly reached over and placed a comforting hand on Specter’s shoulder while the Head of the Train remained standing and hung his head with guilt and shame.

The dark woods were silent and the only sounds heard were the sobbing of a lone ghost and the wind slowly blowing through the trees as if joining in with the sorrow of those in all of Inkwell Isle who were now awaiting the darkness and loneliness of the hell that awaited all of them.

Even in Inkwell Isle One the mood was somber and silent while in the forest there was no noise expect the soft sobbing of an orange carnation curled up near a tree.

“Specs…don't leave me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the next chapter! ^^
> 
> I’m sorry to say, that it might be possible that the next chapter will be the final chapter...maybe. Depends on how long the next chapter is. 
> 
> But we’ll worry about that when we get there. ^^


	20. Price Paid

**Ch 20: Price Paid**

 

The sun rose over Inkwell Isle but some residents of the isle was in the mood to appreciate the beauty of the morning dawn. All over Inkwell Isle, the debtors to the Devil were silently waiting for the dreaded moment when the Devil will come to take their souls. Some were trying their best to keep their panic at bay to no avail, others were preparing for one last final attempt to fight, while others were merely still and silent.

Cagney fell in with the latter. He remained small and meek curled up near the roots of the tree and keeping his eyes on the meadow horizon, awaiting the sight of the devil rising from the horizon. He began to wonder what the Devil will do to him since he had nearly beaten one of his employees to death and defied him by stealing not one but two soul contracts. Cagney could only shudder at what awaited him in hell.

“Cagney?”

Cagney yelped and whirled around, lashing out at the voice who spoke. Psycarrot jumped back just in time as Cagney’s leaf hand nearly grazed him. Cagney blinked at Psycarrot and sighed in relief.

“Oh…it’s just you. Er, sorry about that, Psy. I’ve been on edge ever since…” He trailed off and looked back at the horizon but Psycarrot knew exactly what he meant.

“I don’t blame ya’.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Listen Cagney…that’s what I’m here for.”

“Huh?”

“Haven’t you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“About everyone who sold their soul to the Devil need to gather here in this meadow.”

“What for?”

“Don’t know…some big huge announcement from the Cup brothers.”

This made Cagney shiver with dread. The Cup brothers were working for the Devil and whatever the announcement was going to be just can’t be good.

“Is it mandatory?” Cagney asked.

“I’m not sure. Weepy says he’s not going. He’s afraid of what’s going to happen. Moe and I will stay with him and if they try to take us away, we’ll fight if we have to.”

“But…” Cagney stared at him, “you’ve barely gotten your strength back after that fight.”

Psycarrot shrugged. “It’s the only way to protect Weepy.”

“Hmm…” Cagney bit his bottom lip. “I don’t know…maybe I’ll go because…well what else is there for me here?”

Psycarrot nodded. “Well, I wish you the best of luck then…”

“Thanks…you too.” Cagney nodded back as Psycarrot turned and headed back to the vegetable garden.

Footsteps caused Cagney to turn his attention towards the borders of Inkwell Isle Two and he was astonished to see a large group heading towards him. Was the meeting going to take place here? As the crowd gathered around Cagney realized he was smack dab in the middle of the crowd.

Here it was then.

_Oh Cohl,_ Cagney thought as more and more debtors came, _what will happen to us next?_

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile in Inkwell Isle Three, the Phantom Express was still in the same spot from yesterday. Due to the Head of the Train being beaten badly, they were unable to continue on. Specter had wandered over to the edge of a cliff that dropped down to the ocean and began to chuck rocks into the water, venting out his frustrations and fear.

“Get away from there, Specs.” T-bone called towards him. “You don’t want to accidentally hit someone or something and get us into deeper trouble.”

“I don’t care…” Specter snarled as he threw another rock. What he really cared about was what Cagney was doing at the moment. Had the Devil gotten to him already? If not, was he hiding somewhere or just waiting until the Devil would come to get his sharp claws in him?

Specter grabbed another rock from the ground and imagined the Devil standing before him, gloating and laughing about getting his contract. With a growl, Specter threw the rock which flew straight into the air before falling into the ocean. The ghost was about to look for more rocks when something caught his eyes.

A giant mermaid had broken through the surface of the water and was swimming away, heading towards the direction of Inkwell Isle One. An idea came to Specter and he jumped down from the edge of the cliff and glided over to the mermaid, ignoring T-bone’s calls for him to get back.

“Hey!” Specter called out. “You! Mermaid!”

The mermaid froze and turned around. Gliding in closer, Specter was able to get a good look at her. She had large aqua eyes, two scars across her left arm and her purple hair was actually a large purple octopus draped over her head.

“Hey!” Specter repeated himself. “Where are you going?”

“To Inkwell Isle One…” The mermaid answered as if it was obvious.

“I know, I know,” Specter waved a hand. “But…why?”

The mermaid looked down at the water with shame. “I…well, I made a stupid mistake that I couldn’t take back. The Devil…he convinced me to sell my soul to him, but I managed to escape. Well…I thought I was safe but—”

“Cup brothers managed to beat you?” Specter finished.

The mermaid nodded sadly.

“I know how you feel…” Specter sighed. “So you’re trying to get away from here before the Devil gets you?”

“No…” The mermaid shook her head. “Everyone who had sold their soul to the devil is summoned to go to Fleisher Fields for some sort of announcement.”

“Wait, what?!”

“That’s all I know though. I don’t know why we need to be there or what will happen to us. But…better to face your fate than hide like a coward.”

Specter didn’t reply as he was lost in thought. Finally he nodded. “Thank you…I appreciate the information. I guess I’ll be seeing you Ms…?”

“Cala.” The mermaid replied. “Cala Maria.” And with that she dove into the water and disappeared from view.

Specter immediately turned around and glided back towards T-bone and the Head of the Train.

“T-bone!” Specter cried out. “I received word! We have to get to Fleischer Fields immediately?’”

“Whatever for?” T-bone frowned.

“Everyone who had sold their soul to the Devil is required to go.” Specter explained. “Some sort of gathering…or something.”

The Head of the Train snorted. “Well, I’m not going. It’s obviously some sort of trap.”

“But even if we don’t go, they will still be able to find us,” T-bone pointed out.

“I’m not going,” The Head of the Train growled. “I refuse.”

Specter watched as both Head of Train and T-bone began to argue about whether to go or not. To go was no good, but not going was no good either. The ghost glared down at the ground as the bickering grew louder. He didn’t care what will happen to him if he went. All he cared about was a certain carnation flower that lived in the same area as the gathering place.

Finally he made his own decision.

Specter flew up into the sky and zoomed away from the Phantom Express, ignoring the calls from T-bone to get back. He had lost Cagney not once, but twice. No way will he lose him for the third time.

 

* * *

 

 

Cagney could hardly believe the number of debtors gathered around. He spotted several familiar faces among the crowd. Baroness Von Bon Bon, the princess of sweets that lived across from him in Inkwell Isle Two. The rat who had come upon him and Nathan when Nathan was going through one of his abusive fits. And much to Cagney’s surprise, Rumor Honeybottoms, his old boss that he hadn’t seen in years.

What happened to them that caused them to sell their own souls to the Devil?

Cagney raised himself a little bit and searched through the crowd. Did the Phantom Express come? Or were they afraid of coming? Cagney searched desperately through the crowd but every new face only resulted in disappointment when he saw it was not the familiar ghost he had grown to love.

He slowly sank low to the ground and uttered a sigh of sadness. Well maybe it was best that Specter wasn’t here. If this meeting was called by the Devil himself, perhaps the Phantom Express could have a chance to run and escape. But Cagney wished he could have said one final good bye to Specter.

Suddenly the nervous chattering died down and Cagney looked up. The two Cup brothers were running down a hill towards the crowd and the air immediately grew tense. Everyone watched as the brothers climbed up a large bandstand and stood facing the crowd. Cuphead took a deep breath.

“You are all free of the Devil’s debt!”

“And that fiend won’t bother us again!” Mugman added.

There was a moment of silence as the crowd stared at the Cup brothers.

“We fought against the Devil,” Cuphead went on, “and he admitted defeat!”

“Then we took all of your soul contracts and burned them in the fires of hell,” Mugman said, “now you will never have to fear losing your souls!”

The crowd began to murmur in astonishment. The murmurs grew louder and there were small chuckles which turned into laughter which turned into cheering and also sobs. The tension in the air transformed into one of relief and joy. All around Cagney, many of the debtors were hugging each other and crying tears of joy, others were slapping each other on the back and roaring with laughter.

Cagney smiled at the sight of everyone celebrating the defeat of the Devil. He too was extremely relieved that he was no longer in danger of being a slave to the Devil, but still part of him was…unhappy. Why was he unhappy during a celebration?

Then he felt someone tap his shoulder. The carnation turned around and froze with shock. A blue ghost with an eye socket floated in front of him and on the palms of his hands were yellow eyeballs that where shining with unshed tears. The ghost smiled.

“Hi Cagney…”

 Cagney merely stood frozen before he lunged forward and wrapped his vine arms around the ghost, burrowing his face into the ghost’s chest and releasing tears and sobs of joy. Specter wrapped his arms around Cagney and nuzzled his face into the petals. He then placed his hands on the sides of Cagney’s face and gently lifted Cagney’s face so that the carnation was looking straight at him.

“The Devil has been defeated…you know what that means, right?”

Tears were still streaming from Cagney’s eyes but he smiled and nodded. Their souls were no longer in possession of the Devil nor were they trapped.

Both ghost and flower remained in each other’s embrace as a daylong celebration began, marking a newfound freedom for the flower, the ghost, and everyone in all of Inkwell Isle.

 

* * *

 

 

  **ONE YEAR LATER**

 

 It was just so peaceful; Cagney contemplated as he laid on a grassy forest incline and watched the clouds pass over the large treetops that shaded the forest floor. A few feet away from him a small waterfall gently poured water into a stream which led downward into a grove of trees. Yes, Tyrus Gardens was very beautiful and peaceful indeed. However there was just one thing missing.

A blue arm reached over and pulled him in closer. Cagney smiled. That was it.

Both carnation and ghost laid on the incline and stared up at the blue sky filled with clouds, enjoying the sensation of being close to one another and listening to the sounds of Tyrus Gardens.

So many things have happened ever since their contracts were destroyed by the cup brothers. The crew members of the Phantom Express were able to leave the train and wander wherever they want, allowing Specter to visit Cagney every single time they pass by Inkwell Isle One during his breaks. This happened in the spring and summer and at the beginning of fall Cagney would move into the Phantom Express and live there throughout the colder months.

The casino was still in operation but after a lot of negotiation it was decreed that betting with souls will no longer occur and the casino owners will face severe punishment if that ever occurred again. The Cup brothers would make sure of that. Despite the casino no longer taking souls, Cagney refused to enter it. There were just too many bad memories and even the sounds, sight and smell of the place caused him to go into a panic attack. Luckily Specter was there to help him any way possible and comfort him during these moments.

Cagney couldn’t help but think on how lucky he was to have found Specter. If he hadn’t met the blind ghost, his life would have been a lot darker filled with pain and fear. With Specter around he no longer felt that fear and every morning he would wake up excited about what the day will bring instead of dreading it.

A finger gently stroked his petal making him shiver in delight.

“What are you thinking about?” Specter asked.

Cagney smiled. “Oh, just thinking about how lucky I am to have someone like you in my life.”

Specter chuckled. “Please…I’m the one who should be considered lucky. Lucky to have a gorgeous flower as my boyfriend…”

Cagney nuzzled in closer to the ghost and kissed him on the lips. “I love you, Specs.”

Specter smiled and kissed the flower back. “Love you too, Cag.”

Cagney settled his head on the ghost’s chest and closed his eyes, happiness flowing through him like a river.

After so long, they were finally free.

 

_**THE END** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are. The finale of the fanfic.
> 
> I am a huge bag of mixed emotions right now. On the one hand, I am very happy that I have managed to finish up a fanfic, but on the other hand I am very sad that it is over. I had never thought the fanfic was going to become so popular over a short period of time. I actually thought it was just going to be like my other fanfics where I post it up, one or two people will like it and then would lose interest making me lose interest. But it didn’t happen and now I’ve reached the end and have gained so many new friends because of this fanfic. ^^
> 
> And I just want to thank you all for reading this fanfic and supporting it! I apologize if I hadn't responded to your comments, but rest assured that I have read them all!
> 
> I would also like to thank everyone who drew fanart for the fic and those who sent many nice messages showing their love for the fic! All of this was what made me determined to continue on writing and not give up on the fanfic.
> 
> It is sad that this will be the last chapter, but don’t worry! There will be more coming up relating to this fanfic and maybe even a potential sequel. Keep a sharp lookout! 
> 
> Once again, thank you all so much! Love you guys! <3


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